Back from Vacation...

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

We just got back from a week on the beach at Gulf Shores, AL. It was

a marvelous trip for all of us! had very few problems with OCD, other

than one night when she was over tired and had some mild anxiety. However,

today, on the way home, she had a major upset. Someone with a lit cigerette

had sat near here at a place where we stopped and she had major contamination

issues. While she and I were able to work through them, it was the first

time my mother had ever really seen fine one minute, then with full

blown OCD another. She was shocked and kept wanting to attribute 's

crying and anxiety to wanting her way, etc. I literally ignored Mom while I

helped use her CBT skills to gain control. In retrospect, I was glad

that Mom witnessed what happened. I told her that what she saw WAS OCD and

that was what we were all working on with . It was an eyeopener for her!

Some thoughts on prior posts...As we have grown more " comfortable "

with 's OCD, we have also become more astute about who to tell and how

much to tell them. I always want to remain respectful of 's feelings

and her desire to have privacy. However, there are situations where I

disagree with her request for privacy (such as telling the director at her

sleep-away camp) in which case, I explain to her why I chose to tell him/her.

About CBT and behavior changes...When first started CBT ad

medication, the symptons actually got worse for a week or two as she no

longer felt a need to hide them from us. It was quite scary! eventually it

got better. But even now, her OCd compulsions continue to morph so that she

never feels totally free of them. As long as you can help your child and

yourself identify their individual pattern of OCD, all of you can gain a

feeling of predictability to this baffling disease!

Remember that we are all here for each other!!!!

Gail in N'Awlins