Obserssive Compulsive Disorder is a condition that causes a person to reduce anxiety by engaging in repetitive thoughts or acts. Common symptoms of OCD are hand washing, excessive showering, touching things repeatedly and for no seeming purpose, checking locks and doors and hair brushing. Although this is only a partial list it give a good enough idea about the types of behaviours children with OCD often engage in and are discomforted by.

Children with OCD are often excessive worriers. Their worries usually take the form of fear of disease or contamination and fear that a family member, usually mother or father will die or abandon them. These worries go around and around the child’s head with a life of their own. This type of excessive and unstoppable worrying is known as rumination and it can be totally distracting and distressing to the child.

OCD in children is more common than we think. It often runs in families so there seems in many cases to be a genetic component to the condition. Children with OCD will have a difficult time in school becuase they will be preoccupied with worries and will be driven to engage in their repetitive behaviours. OCD is not a benign condition but the good news is that, if recognised early it can be easily treated.

Only the most severe cases of OCD require medication intervention. If necessary a child psychiatrist will prescribe an anti-depressant such as Prozac because it has been proven to help stop the obsessive cycle of behaviour. Short term psychotherapy is usually a required adjunt to medical management of OCD.

In another blog I will write a bit about the therapy for OCD. For now, just be vigilent because children with OCD often suffer silently.