VERY RARE - three year old with possible OCD

[nateboy]

Alright, very rare and I am probably overanalzing given that I dx for a living (but only through Christ - prayfully). My child has so many genetic strikes against him but he is wonderful (age 3). He is beyond obsessive right now. He was first dx with Autism, but is no longer. He is adaptible in so many situations; however, he gets stuck in cycles, "mommy, we go play now, we go play now, we go play now...," "red car, mommy red car, see red car, car car car.....The getting stuck I heard is deap within the midbrain perhaps hypothalamas or thalamus (forgot), where individuals truly do get stuck in a cycle and find in difficult to get out. We try to break him using a vareity of techniques...doesn't help. If he sees a cart in the parking lot not back where it belongs or is not straight, he has this extreme need to fix it. So much more to the story. Wonderful child! Came from an mild OCD like family (paternal), anxiety (maternal/paternal) and ADHD (maternal) family - he is one funny kids, though and extrememly happy all the time - unless he is stuck in a cycle.

Does anyone here have experience with OCD in young children? If so, could you please tell me your child's symptoms. I guess children' who display symptoms at this age is so extremely rare. I know only time but I would like to find someone who has expereinced the same thing with their kiddo.

 

[seajoy]

Alright, very rare and I am probably overanalzing given that I dx for a living (but only through Christ - prayfully). My child has so many genetic strikes against him but he is wonderful (age 3). He is beyond obsessive right now. He was first dx with Autism, but is no longer. He is adaptible in so many situations; however, he gets stuck in cycles, "mommy, we go play now, we go play now, we go play now...," "red car, mommy red car, see red car, car car car.....The getting stuck I heard is deap within the midbrain perhaps hypothalamas or thalamus (forgot), where individuals truly do get stuck in a cycle and find in difficult to get out. We try to break him using a vareity of techniques...doesn't help. If he sees a cart in the parking lot not back where it belongs or is not straight, he has this extreme need to fix it. So much more to the story. Wonderful child! Came from an mild OCD like family (paternal), anxiety (maternal/paternal) and ADHD (maternal) family - he is one funny kids, though and extrememly happy all the time - unless he is stuck in a cycle.

Does anyone here have experience with OCD in young children? If so, could you please tell me your child's symptoms. I guess children' who display symptoms at this age is so extremely rare. I know only time but I would like to find someone who has expereinced the same thing with their kiddo.

My daughter showed signs of ocd at age 8 or so. I took her to a psychiatrist when she was about 10, and he said she had tendancies towards ocd, but felt he could not give her a true diagnosis at that time. She has since had an ocd diagnosis, and also adult ADHD. I felt in my heart years before that she had ocd. She now has therapy for it, and is doing well.

It sounds like you have had your son to a psychiatrist. Does he think he's got ocd? If you think he has ocd, and he wants to "straighten things," try to keep him from "fixing it" as much as possible. Steer him to do other things. Take his mind off of it as much as possible. Seek further help from the doctor.

OCD can run in families...my daughter and I are 3rd and 4th generation ocd'ers! Only the women in my family have it.

You seem like a very understanding mom. Your son is very blessed to have you!

seajoy

 

[unpardoned1]

Alright, very rare and I am probably overanalzing given that I dx for a living (but only through Christ - prayfully). My child has so many genetic strikes against him but he is wonderful (age 3). He is beyond obsessive right now. He was first dx with Autism, but is no longer. He is adaptible in so many situations; however, he gets stuck in cycles, "mommy, we go play now, we go play now, we go play now...," "red car, mommy red car, see red car, car car car.....The getting stuck I heard is deap within the midbrain perhaps hypothalamas or thalamus (forgot), where individuals truly do get stuck in a cycle and find in difficult to get out. We try to break him using a vareity of techniques...doesn't help. If he sees a cart in the parking lot not back where it belongs or is not straight, he has this extreme need to fix it. So much more to the story. Wonderful child! Came from an mild OCD like family (paternal), anxiety (maternal/paternal) and ADHD (maternal) family - he is one funny kids, though and extrememly happy all the time - unless he is stuck in a cycle.

Does anyone here have experience with OCD in young children? If so, could you please tell me your child's symptoms. I guess children' who display symptoms at this age is so extremely rare. I know only time but I would like to find someone who has expereinced the same thing with their kiddo.

I've had OCD since I was a very very young girl---maybe 4 or 5? If I was worried my mom would be killed in a car accident(I worried until I was about 11 like this) I would walk backwards or try to make it not happen by doing rituals. It was a lot of movements or prayers or chantings in my head to try to keep her safe. This transferred to other things as I got older.

My oldest son--11 has symptoms and has since he was little. He would line up his cars perfectly--he played differently---oddly. He thinks that if he doesn't do things something bad will happen. My 4 year old also repeats--he sounds so much like your son. He will say the same thing--"Land rover mom--look at the Land Rover, did you see it? over again and then he'll ask me where I got his trains from. "Did you get them from Wal-Mart? He must have ask me that at least 10 times last night. Then he went and asked my husand. --I understand. Its never too early.

 

[nateboy]

I feel so much better because you both seem to be one of the few people who understand that this can show up at a very young age. They first thought my son was Autistic due to the lining up of cars and expressive speech delay. He has been tested twice and seen by another professional to confirm the mx dx as he is just SO social and can pretend play. Right now he is very social but my oh my...the repeating of words and he already seems to be starting in on the "washing the hands." I don't know if this is a true obsession or just good hygeine . He can't go out of a door without putting down the door stopper (just weird). He also is starting to jump over lines in parking lots and gets mad if he can't. He also gets mad if he can't go a specific way to our apt. (we just moved from a house to an apt due to relocation). We have to walk around to the sidewalk and then he makes sure he gets the corners prior to going up the stairs (makes sense). When he doesn't do this, he has so much anxiety. Some days he does seem to forget it until he goes outside again. OHHHHH!! When our son was 20 months, he wouldn't just hug and kiss us...he would do kiss people in that "southern European way." He would put his cheek against another person cheek, then go to the other cheek then finally kiss. He would never just hug or kiss...it was this ritual. Now that ritual has pretty much disolved but he did do it again a few weeks ago....we NEVER taught him that nor did he learn it from some one else..it was just his thing. That is when I really started to suspect OCD because he did little things before that, but that was definitely a pattern and something he HAD to do. If he didn't do it, then he just wouldn't kiss or hug us.

Unpardoned: My son sounds SO much like your 4 year old as that is exactly the way he speaks, too. The question he asked you about Walmart and then he asked you husband, I bet he understood but couldn't get himself out of the obsessive loop. Do you believe that? My husband also gets like that, too. He can get pretty bad with the obsessive thoughts, over and over again. Again, I think both of his parents had it as well. I have some of the obsessive - over and over again thoughts but also have other issues (i.e., anxiety, possibly bipolar II, ADHD (without hyperactivity). I just PRAY that if my son has OCD, he doesn't have any of the other genetic factors in our family. God is in control!!

PLEASE PLEASE tell me more about what your four year old does. I want to know because it really helps me to understand and realize we are not alone. I want to know about how your son plays differently as my son does that, too. This is just so rare for kids at this age, so I read. I also read that if kids have

On a good note: my son is going to a Christian daycare and his teacher "had" OCD as she puts it. Even when she was six years old, she had to touch every surface of everything on all points (i.e., a table she would have to touch on all sides first). She even said she would often do that to the stove even if it was hot. She knew about being burned but she would sometimes first put water on her fingers and then touch the surface. She was also obsessively organized. She said she is better now, but I would think she still has some of it. I don't know. So, we are blessed that God has brought another Christian in our paths who can understand our son. Our sons strange playing or things he has to do does affect the classroom sometimes, but she is able to handle it because she knows what he is going through.

Seajoy: Thanks too, I have been trying to do what you said. Our son may be the 3rd generation OCDer of boys (it depends because I do wonder if my husbands mom doesn't also have it...she is a hard one to tell. Her husband, my husband's dad I would say definitely has it!

God is so good. I am thankful I found you, too as there is not a lot of support out there for people who have youngsters with this.

- K

 

[unpardoned1]

I feel so much better because you both seem to be one of the few people who understand that this can show up at a very young age. They first thought my son was Autistic due to the lining up of cars and expressive speech delay. He has been tested twice and seen by another professional to confirm the mx dx as he is just SO social and can pretend play. Right now he is very social but my oh my...the repeating of words and he already seems to be starting in on the "washing the hands." I don't know if this is a true obsession or just good hygeine . He can't go out of a door without putting down the door stopper (just weird). He also is starting to jump over lines in parking lots and gets mad if he can't. He also gets mad if he can't go a specific way to our apt. (we just moved from a house to an apt due to relocation). We have to walk around to the sidewalk and then he makes sure he gets the corners prior to going up the stairs (makes sense). When he doesn't do this, he has so much anxiety. Some days he does seem to forget it until he goes outside again. OHHHHH!! When our son was 20 months, he wouldn't just hug and kiss us...he would do kiss people in that "southern European way." He would put his cheek against another person cheek, then go to the other cheek then finally kiss. He would never just hug or kiss...it was this ritual. Now that ritual has pretty much disolved but he did do it again a few weeks ago....we NEVER taught him that nor did he learn it from some one else..it was just his thing. That is when I really started to suspect OCD because he did little things before that, but that was definitely a pattern and something he HAD to do. If he didn't do it, then he just wouldn't kiss or hug us.

Unpardoned: My son sounds SO much like your 4 year old as that is exactly the way he speaks, too. The question he asked you about Walmart and then he asked you husband, I bet he understood but couldn't get himself out of the obsessive loop. Do you believe that? My husband also gets like that, too. He can get pretty bad with the obsessive thoughts, over and over again. Again, I think both of his parents had it as well. I have some of the obsessive - over and over again thoughts but also have other issues (i.e., anxiety, possibly bipolar II, ADHD (without hyperactivity). I just PRAY that if my son has OCD, he doesn't have any of the other genetic factors in our family. God is in control!!

PLEASE PLEASE tell me more about what your four year old does. I want to know because it really helps me to understand and realize we are not alone. I want to know about how your son plays differently as my son does that, too. This is just so rare for kids at this age, so I read. I also read that if kids have

On a good note: my son is going to a Christian daycare and his teacher "had" OCD as she puts it. Even when she was six years old, she had to touch every surface of everything on all points (i.e., a table she would have to touch on all sides first). She even said she would often do that to the stove even if it was hot. She knew about being burned but she would sometimes first put water on her fingers and then touch the surface. She was also obsessively organized. She said she is better now, but I would think she still has some of it. I don't know. So, we are blessed that God has brought another Christian in our paths who can understand our son. Our sons strange playing or things he has to do does affect the classroom sometimes, but she is able to handle it because she knows what he is going through.

Seajoy: Thanks too, I have been trying to do what you said. Our son may be the 3rd generation OCDer of boys (it depends because I do wonder if my husbands mom doesn't also have it...she is a hard one to tell. Her husband, my husband's dad I would say definitely has it!

God is so good. I am thankful I found you, too as there is not a lot of support out there for people who have youngsters with this.

- K

Tyler(my four year old) shows ocd symptoms mainly with the questions. Like you said, he can't get out of that loop. He kept asking me the other day if I had gotten him the "purple train" I really didn't know what he was talking about. I think he thought I had bought another train as well, but had not given it to him yet, but he just kept saying it. At night, sometimes he wants me to read the same book over again. I know this isn't that abnormal, but he acts like I hadn't read it before. Sometimes I will even hear my husband reading the same story a few minutes later. --I'm not sure if this is a symptom or not. He's had other quirky issues. I need to remember them and then I will write them in a post for you.
Its my 11 year old that really had the issues from a young age. He would line up the cars and seem to be in his own world when he played or spoke to us. He would not play with toys the way they were intended, for example I could spend money on a toy, only to have him use it as something else. (I have a degree in sociology and studied psych. and this type of play, when a child uses a toy for something other then its intended use, is said to be normal, I think at age 2 or 3) Whatever the books say...I just found it wierd anyway. He would just be too imaginative if there is such a thing. A few years later he had issues with hoarding. This was just the beginning. He started to hoard dryer lint and I found it. He felt they had feelings and would scream that I had killed them when I threw them out. This was around age 6 and 7. It kept getting worse. I would open his drawers and found cut up paper that he would say were significant, but they were cut into square shapes. --I mean tons. I really freaked out when I found a hoard of pencil erasers that were either picked off the pencil or he found on the floor. He put them away like treasures. That was scary. He also wrote everything down--some didn't make sense. He is now 11 this has been going on, like I said, since maybe even 1 1/2 now that I think about it. Thats when he would line up the cars. Even now I check his drawers for garbage. He may pick up stuff off the street or in parking lots---scary.

He doesn't have another mental illness in my opinion because he isn't delusional he hoards. Maybe the part when he felt the objects had feelings was weird, but I still wouldn't classify him as schizophrinic or something. His main problems are really obsessive hoarding, but he will ask me questions sometimes. I can't put my finger on it, but I understand them to be the same OCD thoughts and questions I've asked or thought at one time or another. I've also noticed lately when I ask him to stop touching something or doing something, it seems he has to touch it or say it one last time---I don't think its rebelliousness, I think he feels he has to because he dosn't seem he wants to do it. He looks as if he were compelled.
As for my four year old, I wish I could tape him for you when he gets in his "loops"
Don't worry, your NOT alone.

 

[unpardoned1]

Tyler(my four year old) shows ocd symptoms mainly with the questions. Like you said, he can't get out of that loop. He kept asking me the other day if I had gotten him the "purple train" I really didn't know what he was talking about. I think he thought I had bought another train as well, but had not given it to him yet, but he just kept saying it. At night, sometimes he wants me to read the same book over again. I know this isn't that abnormal, but he acts like I hadn't read it before. Sometimes I will even hear my husband reading the same story a few minutes later. --I'm not sure if this is a symptom or not. He's had other quirky issues. I need to remember them and then I will write them in a post for you.
Its my 11 year old that really had the issues from a young age. He would line up the cars and seem to be in his own world when he played or spoke to us. He would not play with toys the way they were intended, for example I could spend money on a toy, only to have him use it as something else. (I have a degree in sociology and studied psych. and this type of play, when a child uses a toy for something other then its intended use, is said to be normal, I think at age 2 or 3) Whatever the books say...I just found it wierd anyway. He would just be too imaginative if there is such a thing. A few years later he had issues with hoarding. This was just the beginning. He started to hoard dryer lint and I found it. He felt they had feelings and would scream that I had killed them when I threw them out. This was around age 6 and 7. It kept getting worse. I would open his drawers and found cut up paper that he would say were significant, but they were cut into square shapes. --I mean tons. I really freaked out when I found a hoard of pencil erasers that were either picked off the pencil or he found on the floor. He put them away like treasures. That was scary. He also wrote everything down--some didn't make sense. He is now 11 this has been going on, like I said, since maybe even 1 1/2 now that I think about it. Thats when he would line up the cars. Even now I check his drawers for garbage. He may pick up stuff off the street or in parking lots---scary.

He doesn't have another mental illness in my opinion because he isn't delusional he hoards. Maybe the part when he felt the objects had feelings was weird, but I still wouldn't classify him as schizophrinic or something. His main problems are really obsessive hoarding, but he will ask me questions sometimes. I can't put my finger on it, but I understand them to be the same OCD thoughts and questions I've asked or thought at one time or another. I've also noticed lately when I ask him to stop touching something or doing something, it seems he has to touch it or say it one last time---I don't think its rebelliousness, I think he feels he has to because he dosn't seem he wants to do it. He looks as if he were compelled.
As for my four year old, I wish I could tape him for you when he gets in his "loops"
Don't worry, your NOT alone.

Hi, I just went for a car ride with Tyler to get out of the house and get a dr.pepper and a chocolate milk for him and he brought his toy Hummer truck. He started asking me if the hummber truck was a land rover. I answered him and he kept asking. He must have asked 20 times in 20 minutes! He asked if they were the same and could go up mountains and if daddy had a hummer truck. (Daddy has a Landrover) He went on and on about how it has two sunroofs and asked me if it did and ---just a whole bunch of repetitive stuff about hummer truck and land rovers. We actually saw a hummer truck when we were out---that started even more questions.
Tyler loves his toys and his daddy's truck. I think us OCDr's obsess over what we love the most. I think thats what Tyler is doing.

(who would've thought that large SUVs could give someone a headache from something other then the gas bill?)

 

[nateboy]

Oh, I thank God so much that someone truly understands. My son will probably be like one of your sons because the symptoms are so incredibly similiar. I can see my son later cutting squares over and over and over again (the loop).

Yep! Your son does sound very smart, even with the looping. How do you block it out? We are learning more and more each day. It's hard because we respond by saying, "Yeh, there's a blue truck, " yes it's blue Nate," Yep, it sure is blue." Are we making it worse? I don't want to ignore him but after a while we just stop responding to him. We wait until he is looping about nine times.

Nate is SOO obsessed with the color blue, lights and anything that goes "around and around and around and around." The around thing happens when we are going in a little circle in the car (he wants to go around many times or we will just cry and keep on saying it over and over again and wants me to turn around - I usually go around one more time and that's it -- we had a litte loop at our former daycare that was completely scattered and unstructered.

He also talks about everything that is blue. He will talk about whatever he saw was blue what seems like forever. He does the same thing with lights. He still asks questions also after we tell him the answer. The way he talks about lights...grrrr. Oh.....as I was typing that he just said something about lights. "Daddy, light on." My husband responded, "That's ok, light is on." He then said, Yeh the light is on Daddy, see the light on...the light is on." The light is white, see." Now he just said that five times....seriously. Now he is saying, Daddy the door is open, the door is open daddy, look it's open...needless to say, my husband responded only once this time. At least he didn't say it a lot. That is our life; all the time.

I do love my son, though, although I feel guilty about getting annoyed. I don't want to get annoyed and I need to understand more about this "looping," of his. I have a book about Obsessive Compulsive Disorders and a lot of articles but I have yet to find one on children with OCD, especially young ones. That is what's so frustrating. People first think he is Autistic because he is so OCD - like or OCD. After so many evaluations from different people, he is not. They have never mentioned OCD, though. Oh, now he is talking about his blue tractor; over and over again. He does get out of the loop sometimes for about two sentences and then enters it again. I am listening to him and typing what he is saying.

My son used to also have an obession with lint on the floor but has yet to hoard things - I think (perhaps he is hiding stuff?? j/k ---for now. Whenever he saw lint on the floor, he would get really anxious and HAD to give it to me. He would then say, here mommy, mommy here but didn't say that over and over. If we were at someones house or in a store, he would do the same thing - he didn't get mad when I threw it away. He actually got really mad if I didn't throw it away and seemingly anxious......oh, if there is something out of place in a store, he HAS to put it back. If we say someone else will pick it up, he will practically have a tantrum. At least he is organized and clean. I am saying this because you said your son was a hoarder. I can see my son eventually becoming a hoarder.

You also mentioned that your son would pretend play by using a toy intended for a different purpose. That is how the people testing him determined he wasn't autistic. That and some other ways, but that was the main thing.

My husband gets into the "looping" stage occasionally during the winter. He becomes so depressed because he keeps thinking about the same thing over and over again. He told me it is like his brain is stuck on the same thoughts and he can't stop. He used to have really strange behaviors before he sat down to eat such as making sure his plate was a certain way (picking it up and then turning it...sommething like that), then picking up his silverware and putting it back...he doesn't do that anymore because I just got so annoyed. When he was trying to stop, he did get really anxious - at least that is how I interpreted it. He has been dx with Bipolar II because the depression and anxiety that seems to be caused by the "looping" occurs during the fall and winter months more, although he still has them during spring and summer.

Sorry, I am writing so much. I am just so thankful for you and thankful that seajoy also wrote.

Oh, hoarding...I guess rocks could be considered hoarding, huh?? I guess he has already hoarded something on a lesser scale. He no longer does that with rocks. He would pick up the smallest rocks and want us to take it for him or he would take it and put it in his pocket. he would want to take some HUGE rocks home, too. We only let him do this on a few occassions and will probably never know if that's what feed his obsession. We still find an occasional rock or two in his room, especially in pants pockets or jackets that he no longer wears (just keeps growing).

I did read in my OCD book that the early a child has symptoms, the more likely they are to continue to get worse. If that's the case, then my son maybe really bad when he is older. His teacher, however, seemed to be very OCD and she is fine now, although she may have obsessive thoughts - I don't know.

Didn't you write in another posting about the unpardonal sin against the holy spirit and you were looping? Was that you. I really don't think God would hold that against you because of the illness...if that was you. The looping (did I create that or is it an actual term for this OCD behavior?), is beyond your control. The holy spirit understands. Perhaps it was spiritual warfare, I don't know. Perhaps you keep obsessing about it and can't get out know. That is what my husband does on these matters as well. No matter what I tell him, it doesn't matter because he can't get out of that thinking process.

I will pray for you and your family. Please pray for my son and our family. Because this is so rare, perhaps some researcher on OCD would like to study our families. There really doesn't seem to be much research out there and I bet there are other parents who seem so alone like I did. I thought I was going nuts...overanalyzing my son because of these behaviors.

Oh, thank you for everything. Please keep your postings up. I believe you can help me understand a little more about these behaviors. Didn't you say you were also OCD??

 

[unpardoned1]

Yes, the post was about me...about the unpardonable sin. Unfortunatly I cannot stop worrying about it. It was my angry thought It actually came after all the ocd thoughts thats why I'm so worried.

My oldest hoards rocks sometimes. No matter how much I tell him not to. Tyler has gone through that...about throwing things out. He would give me things and make me throw them out. Even the littlest one, Devyn, makes me put certain shirts on him.

I was thinking about a good book...Brain Lock. I wonder if we could somehow adapt the 4 steps in the book to children? My pastor and so many others recommended this book.

I will keep up on the boards, have a great day.
Carrie

 

[Mskedi]

Actually, I don't think it's all that rare for a kid to show signs of OCD -- I think it's rare for those signs to be recognized. When my mom was diagnosed as an adult, it made her childhood make sense to her. Likewise, it became clear that all of us children displayed similar signs. It explained the thoughts I battled for so long and the rituals I had to perform and hide. Just because no one knew what it was when I was three doesn't mean it didn't manifest itself.

In comforting news, all of us kids are functional without medication. My mom isn't, but she went so long not knowing what she had that it got a bit out of hand.

 

[seajoy]

Actually, I don't think it's all that rare for a kid to show signs of OCD -- I think it's rare for those signs to be recognized. When my mom was diagnosed as an adult, it made her childhood make sense to her. Likewise, it became clear that all of us children displayed similar signs. It explained the thoughts I battled for so long and the rituals I had to perform and hide. Just because no one knew what it was when I was three doesn't mean it didn't manifest itself.

In comforting news, all of us kids are functional without medication. My mom isn't, but she went so long not knowing what she had that it got a bit out of hand.

Good points....thank you

 

[nateboy]

Functional without medication. I hope if my son truly has it, he won't need medication. Today, he did not seem OCD. Once day is a lot for him.

The book "Brain Lock" sounds extremely interesting. I am going to check the Amazon website to see if it's for sale. I can't wait to read it.

RE: Me overanalyzing myself now!!
I will sometimes obsess about the same thought day in and day out. For example, I have such a HUGE caseload at my job and I can't stop writing "to do lists" over and over again. Today I wrote about six, just regarding my job. I am constantly thinking about what I need to do tomorrow, then the next day, etc. etc. I have to create "to do" lists. This is a new thing I seemed to have developed almost overnight. When my husband talks to me, I am still thinking about my "to do" lists and really don't hear what he is saying. Thankfully, I do hear my son except for when he gets in his loop, then I block it out. During the summer, I do the same thing about something else. Perhaps that is normal and I am just overanalyzing because my husband has it and my son seems to have it. What are the chance sI actually have it...probably small. Sorry, I probably don't have it and what I am doing is probably normal, right?

My husband does what I do too but his is worse. His dad is a lot worse than he is. I probably don't have it because I don't have any compulsions and that is required, right? I have never had any compulsions. I am just overanalyzing-I got to be. I am also on the mild spectrum of Bipolar II; you can read my postings in that as well. I am also ADHD and had learning disablities (undx until college) through out school and barely graduated....amazing I went to college. This stinks. My poor child has so many strikes against him. Genetics - gotta love it!

I must admit, however, I do praise the Lord for me having so many things because it is such as ministry. God sends so many people in my path practically daily who has at least one issue I have. I just call it "a thorn in my side," like Paul experienced to keep him humble...so, we do need to praise the Lord for allowing us to be dx and be a witness in this area for other people...especially those who have heard another Christian say "You must be possessed, or something like that).

 

[unpardoned1]

Functional without medication. I hope if my son truly has it, he won't need medication. Today, he did not seem OCD. Once day is a lot for him.

The book "Brain Lock" sounds extremely interesting. I am going to check the Amazon website to see if it's for sale. I can't wait to read it.

RE: Me overanalyzing myself now!!
I will sometimes obsess about the same thought day in and day out. For example, I have such a HUGE caseload at my job and I can't stop writing "to do lists" over and over again. Today I wrote about six, just regarding my job. I am constantly thinking about what I need to do tomorrow, then the next day, etc. etc. I have to create "to do" lists. This is a new thing I seemed to have developed almost overnight. When my husband talks to me, I am still thinking about my "to do" lists and really don't hear what he is saying. Thankfully, I do hear my son except for when he gets in his loop, then I block it out. During the summer, I do the same thing about something else. Perhaps that is normal and I am just overanalyzing because my husband has it and my son seems to have it. What are the chance sI actually have it...probably small. Sorry, I probably don't have it and what I am doing is probably normal, right?

My husband does what I do too but his is worse. His dad is a lot worse than he is. I probably don't have it because I don't have any compulsions and that is required, right? I have never had any compulsions. I am just overanalyzing-I got to be. I am also on the mild spectrum of Bipolar II; you can read my postings in that as well. I am also ADHD and had learning disablities (undx until college) through out school and barely graduated....amazing I went to college. This stinks. My poor child has so many strikes against him. Genetics - gotta love it!

I must admit, however, I do praise the Lord for me having so many things because it is such as ministry. God sends so many people in my path practically daily who has at least one issue I have. I just call it "a thorn in my side," like Paul experienced to keep him humble...so, we do need to praise the Lord for allowing us to be dx and be a witness in this area for other people...especially those who have heard another Christian say "You must be possessed, or something like that).

You do not need both obsession and compulsions to have ocd, sometimes I only have one or the other, sometimes they are together. Your son may also just have symptoms he will grow out of. I'm hoping that is the case with my sons as well, but I will keep a watchful eye so they don't have to go through it alone, if they do have it. I don't think medication is good for children, they seem to be affected by it more. I think that modifying Brain Lock to a childs level would be a good thing now. I found my copy on half.com for 5 dollars

 

[nateboy]

You are truly sent by God to help me during this time. It has been such a struggle to get other people to truly understand (as I am the overly protective one who is dx my son who just happens to be very VERY anal). The people who seem to "get it" are a very few people who have been around him for longer than 24 hours (i.e., visiting friends or family, the daycare provider, etc.).


I do pray that your children and my child will grow out of it. I also feel the same way you do about meds. It's interesting that before I was a parent, I was "all for" meds if the doctor feels a child needs it (talking about neuro difficults...ADHD, Anxiety, OCD not cancer or diabetes). Now that I am a parent, I feel the opposite as I feel you are messing with a child's brain chemistry that could potentially be damaging another part of the brain. This is my feeling, although I work in the school system and see some kids that would benefit from meds...I see the other side, the parents perspective and understand their hestiation or strong beliefs against it.

I really need to get that book! I will let you know when I do. I will be praying for you and your family!

Thank you for letting God use you during these times.