OCD

[swmom]

I have two questions about OCD.

1. Is medication the only way to treat OCD in children?

2. Can a child grow out of OCD?

Does anyone know the answers to these?

[ohmama]

SWmom,
1. No, there are other therapies available to treat this disorder.
2. At this time it is thought that while the condition can be improved little is known about it being outgrown.

OCD is a potentially severe anxiety disorder. Research indicates that biological factors and/or cognitive processes may cause or contribute to OCD. Sufferers, therefore, respond well to medications that alter brain chemistry. Some natural therapies that act directly on the central nervous system may lessen the symptoms or the precipitation anxiety. These are....

!. The amino acid L-theanine. This has a calming effect and may help decrease symptoms of anxiety, 200mg twice a day.

2. Inositol (myo-inositol) may reverse desensitization of serotonin receptors leading to improvement of symptoms. For OCD and panic disorders, 4 grams in divided doses a day is recommended. (adult dose)

3. Tryptophan may help increase levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Two grams should be given in the evening on an empty stomach. (adult dose)

this information was taken from Life Extension Disease Prevention and Treatment 2004 edition. www.lef.org

Also, to do further research on anxiety disorders and using amino acids read The Anxiety Epidemic by Dr. Billie Sahley. She is a leading researcher in this special field.

[dansmommy]

Tamar Chansky's book _Freeing Your Child From OCD_ describes cognitive-behavioral therapy. I think it really works. The child is taught not to pay attention to the OCD urges. Does your dd have it, sw? There's a great Yahoo! email list called ocdandparenting. The ladies there are extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Chrsitie

[swmom]

Thanks for all the info.

dansmommy - I think she might have it. We're waiting for a review w/her psychologist who is trying to determine that as well as some other things. She does have a lot of anxiety. She has obsessional thoughts, especially when it's something negative that happened with another person. She simply cannot let it go. It drives us nuts. She also has some tics and/or compulsions, I not sure which category they'd fall under,
bangs her head on her pillow rhythmically to get herself to sleep, says she can't go to sleep without doing it,
licking her hands, especially when she's anxious,
sucking on her hair. I suspect the psychologist will say she does have this. I'm eager to address this problem without medication. She's already on Strattera, and while it's been helpful, it now costs us $50/a prescription, up from $20 just 2 months ago. I suspect the psych/psychiatrist will also suggest a med for the anxiety because that's pretty significant. Wish we could address the anxiety without meds, too.

[AnneM]

swmom said:

Thanks for all the info.

dansmommy - I think she might have it. We're waiting for a review w/her psychologist who is trying to determine that as well as some other things. She does have a lot of anxiety. She has obsessional thoughts, especially when it's something negative that happened with another person. She simply cannot let it go. It drives us nuts. She also has some tics and/or compulsions, I not sure which category they'd fall under,
bangs her head on her pillow rhythmically to get herself to sleep, says she can't go to sleep without doing it,
licking her hands, especially when she's anxious,
sucking on her hair. I suspect the psychologist will say she does have this. I'm eager to address this problem without medication. She's already on Strattera, and while it's been helpful, it now costs us $50/a prescription, up from $20 just 2 months ago. I suspect the psych/psychiatrist will also suggest a med for the anxiety because that's pretty significant. Wish we could address the anxiety without meds, too.

This is interesting because I can sooooo relate to the banging head rhymically when going to sleep... my son did this from the moment of his birth and continued to do it until ... well for YEARS and maybe he still does it sometimes but I don't know as he is now 15 ! ... I never tied this in with anxiety or OCD though ... Is there a connection?

[swmom]

I was initially told that head banging is a self-quieting behavior. But she was much younger when someone told me this. Now, she is 9 and it seems like she should've grown out of it by now. The reason I think it might be OCD is that she says she HAS to do this or she can't get to sleep. It's become a ritual.

One thing I don't understand is what is the difference between a bad habit and OCD?

[AnneM]

Hi Swmom ... I think you have hit on a really tricky question here .... i.e. the difference between a habit and ocd ... For example my son bites his nails ... is this ocd? is this a tick? is it habit? I have no idea!! ... The head banging I have always understood to be a "comforter" and a "sleep aid" ... or as you said a "self-quieter" ... but over time has it become a habit or part of ocd ? interesting stuff ... I just wish I had some answers ... and all I really have is more questions!! ...

[dansmommy]

It is complicated, and when you look at tics too, the questions get bigger and bigger. As far as I understand, the compulsions in OCD are based on fear -- I'm afraid I'll hurt my mom by thinking a bad thought about her, but if I bang my head on the wall while I go to sleep, then I won't. If she does it for comfort or just out of habit, it's probably a stim.
These repetitive behaviors I think tend to be more stims than tics, but my ds called thumb-sucking a "tic" so who knows? Anyway, one of my favorite sites, Leslie Packer's site, has lots of articles on OCD which would be a great place to start. I didn't find anything specifically there about the difference between stims and rituals, but I know another site where the difference between stims and tics is detailed if you're interested. www.tourettesyndrome.net/ocd.htm
Christie

[sassysmom]

My daughter, now 15 was diagnosed with ocd when she was 9. She has had terrible obsessional thoughts, ocassional panic attacks and generalized anxiety. She has been in counseling since 4th grade and has tried two different ssri's (luvox and now zoloft). It's so complicated. I would love to say that cognitive behavioral therapy works and I'm sure it does for a more mature, older individual. We have found that for her the therapy helps, but she cannot function without the meds. At this point ssri's are the only meds that help.
As far as I know, ocd does not go away. It's hard to sometimes tell a compulsion from a bad habit, but the obsessional thoughts are scary and you'll know if you need to have an evaluation done. Good Luck!
(she's also taking strattera - not that it's helping that much!)

[AnneM]

dansmommy said:

It is complicated, and when you look at tics too, the questions get bigger and bigger. As far as I understand, the compulsions in OCD are based on fear -- I'm afraid I'll hurt my mom by thinking a bad thought about her, but if I bang my head on the wall while I go to sleep, then I won't. If she does it for comfort or just out of habit, it's probably a stim.
These repetitive behaviors I think tend to be more stims than tics, but my ds called thumb-sucking a "tic" so who knows? Anyway, one of my favorite sites, Leslie Packer's site, has lots of articles on OCD which would be a great place to start. I didn't find anything specifically there about the difference between stims and rituals, but I know another site where the difference between stims and tics is detailed if you're interested. www.tourettesyndrome.net/ocd.htm
Christie

Hi dansmommy ... this is interesting but what exactly is a "stim"? Apart from "stims" as in being short for stimulants I am not familiar with this word .....

[dansmommy]

Stims (self-stimulating behaviors) are the same as stereotypical movements often seen in the autism spectrum disorders, like headbanging, hand flapping, hair twiddling (I do this one and I do not consider myself autistic), etc. Some of them do closely resemble tics, but my understanding is that the reason people stim is for comfort, whereas tics are -- well, they're some kind of misfiring of the basal ganglia or something, and OCD movements are because there's a connection that's not valid in reality between the behavior and relief of anxiety. Can anybody else explain it more clearly? Christie

[AnneM]

dansmommy said:

Stims (self-stimulating behaviors) are the same as stereotypical movements often seen in the autism spectrum disorders, like headbanging, hand flapping, hair twiddling (I do this one and I do not consider myself autistic), etc. Some of them do closely resemble tics, but my understanding is that the reason people stim is for comfort, whereas tics are -- well, they're some kind of misfiring of the basal ganglia or something, and OCD movements are because there's a connection that's not valid in reality between the behavior and relief of anxiety. Can anybody else explain it more clearly? Christie

Thanks Christie !! That was pretty clear to me !! .. Thanks for clarifying that!