5:55 irritating compulsion

[Guest guest]

OK, I've had it! One of my daughter's compulsions is so simple & annoying

that I wanted to get some E & RP advice, before seeing the CB Therapist next

month. Some of you experienced OCD folks might have the perfect response

to this! We usually sit down to dinner around 5:30-5:45. When the

digital clock across the room says " 5:55 " my daughter has to announce it to

everyone. This " habit " started at least six months ago. She often will

say " 5:55 " mid-sentence. For example: " Today at school I went, 5:55, to

the cafeteria with my friends. " Weird! Many months ago, we would all kind

of laugh at 's fascination with the time. Now we know that this is one

of her OCD issues. Lately, we have been completely ignoring that she says

this. We continue on with our conversation, as if she didn't even say it.

But.......what would be the proper E & RP response?! It's driving me NUTS!

Jeanie

near Portland, Oregon

[Guest guest]

Jeanie, near Portland, Oregon

There are a couple of things you could do to help stop this

compulsion. The obvious is to remove the clock and see what, if any,

anxiety this may provoke. If you can't move it, try putting a Post-It

note across it, or turning it around.

If this produces anxiety, then make the removal more gradual,

perhaps turning it around, or covering part of the numbers??

If the removal of the clock isnt the answer, then how about

suggesting to your daughter that you are aware that she is going to

announce that its 5:55, so her 'job' is to not do it? If she says

something like: " I can't help it " then remind her that its ocd

controlling her and that she needs to be in charge, not some brat of a

thought! Before the " time " , remind her that its almost 5:55 and that

SHE has to be in control, to 'Boss Back' the urge, or perhaps, resist

the urge - whatever language you are using at home. When she succeeds,

dont forget to cheer her on!!

In situations like this, we find that once the compulsion has been

identified as ocd related, we can deal with it and it will go away

quite quickly. The identifying and addressing the issue are the

hardest part.

keep us posted!!

wendy in canada

-----------------------------------------------------------

.... We usually sit down to dinner around 5:30-5:45. When the digital

clock across the room says " 5:55 " my daughter has to announce it to

everyone.

[Guest guest]

When we had " clock issues " (who knew these things were so common?) we had to

cover the clock in the car, take away Annie's watch and remove the alarm

clock from her room. She hated it, of course, but it helped pretty quickly,

although that coincided with her beginning medication. For her it was a worry

about being late, and she started setting her alarm for 4 or 5 a.m. to 'be

sure " . When her then 3 year old brother started asking her why all she talked

about was being late, we called a psychiatrist and got her diagnosed.

Good luck with this!

[Guest guest]

does this stuff too!!!!! I never even thought about it. She has many

interruptions in her stories, constant secondary commentary of the thoughts

behind the main thoughts that most of us just ignore when we speak. And the

time on the digital clocks is sometimes one of these mini-digressions.

I'll be interested to hear what others do about this.

--

>From: Jeanie Vella <jeaniev@...>

>Reply-

>

>Subject: " 5:55 " irritating compulsion

>Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 18:34:19 -0800

>

>OK, I've had it! One of my daughter's compulsions is so simple & annoying

>that I wanted to get some E & RP advice, before seeing the CB Therapist next

>month. Some of you experienced OCD folks might have the perfect response

>to this! We usually sit down to dinner around 5:30-5:45. When the

>digital clock across the room says " 5:55 " my daughter has to announce it to

>everyone. This " habit " started at least six months ago. She often will

>say " 5:55 " mid-sentence. For example: " Today at school I went, 5:55, to

>the cafeteria with my friends. " Weird! Many months ago, we would all kind

>of laugh at 's fascination with the time. Now we know that this is one

>of her OCD issues. Lately, we have been completely ignoring that she says

>this. We continue on with our conversation, as if she didn't even say it.

>

>But.......what would be the proper E & RP response?! It's driving me NUTS!

>

>Jeanie

>near Portland, Oregon

>

>

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[Guest guest]

My Anne often has a very difficult time telling a story because she too

cannot ignore all the little thoughts branching off from the main one. You

can see her struggling sometimes, saying one thing and thinking about

something else, but trying hard not to digress. Sometimes she comes to a

complete stop and looks really worried, clearly thinking " should I say this

or should I just go on? " I never really connected it to her OCD but now that

I think about it, I suppose it is related to not being able to sort thoughts

efficiently. She gives all thoughts equal importance and perhaps feels

something " bad " will happen if she doesn't say them, since she has thought

them.

So far, announcing the time only comes in when it is an interesting time

(7:11, or 3:33, etc) but I'm sure we 'll experience this too someday! The

only thing that we have found that helps is to maintain eye contact and try

to be especially soothing and relaxed when listening to these (endless)

monologues. She then seems more able to focus.

[Guest guest]

Well, our school psychologist concluded that Anne had ADHD based on three

sentences from me and then finished her judgement with " of course, I''ve

never met your daughter.... " So just what is required to be a school

psychologist??

[Guest guest]

I am just fascinated hearing everyone's description of their children's

symptoms. They are all too familiar. My son is 12, and was recently

evaluated by the school psychologist. She wrote in her report how she asked

him a direct question about his weekend he COULDN'T give her a clear answer

because he strayed off onto several tangents. (she knows he has OCD). She

was just baffled. Then she concluded that she didn't see anything in him

that indicated his OCD played ANY role in his concentration and learning

difficulty in class. Apparently she assumed there must be a problem at home

and she questioned me about it! I concluded that perhaps OCD is not

mentioned in the curriculum leading to certification as a school

psychologist?? (sarcasm intended)

a

Re: " 5:55 " irritating compulsion

> My Anne often has a very difficult time telling a story because she too

> cannot ignore all the little thoughts branching off from the main one. You

> can see her struggling sometimes, saying one thing and thinking about

> something else, but trying hard not to digress. Sometimes she comes to a

> complete stop and looks really worried, clearly thinking " should I say

this

> or should I just go on? " I never really connected it to her OCD but now

that

> I think about it, I suppose it is related to not being able to sort

thoughts

> efficiently. She gives all thoughts equal importance and perhaps feels

> something " bad " will happen if she doesn't say them, since she has

thought

> them.

> So far, announcing the time only comes in when it is an interesting time

> (7:11, or 3:33, etc) but I'm sure we 'll experience this too someday! The

> only thing that we have found that helps is to maintain eye contact and

try

> to be especially soothing and relaxed when listening to these (endless)

> monologues. She then seems more able to focus.

>

>

>

> You may subscribe to the OCD-L by emailing listserv@... . In

the body of your message write: subscribe OCD-L your name. You may

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parentsofadultswithOCD-subscribe . You may subscribe to

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are Tamar Chansky, Ph.D., Aureen Pinto Wagner, Ph.D., and Dan Geller, M.D.

Our list moderators are Birkhan, Kathy Hammes, Jule Monnens, Gail

Pesses, Kathy , and Jackie Stout. Subscription issues or

suggestions may be addressed to Louis Harkins, list owner, at

lharkins@... .

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

God, how frustrating!!!!!

--

>From: " P Hadzima " <hadzi@...>

>Reply-

>< >

>Subject: Re: " 5:55 " irritating compulsion

>Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 20:56:32 -0500

>

>I am just fascinated hearing everyone's description of their children's

>symptoms. They are all too familiar. My son is 12, and was recently

>evaluated by the school psychologist. She wrote in her report how she asked

>him a direct question about his weekend he COULDN'T give her a clear answer

>because he strayed off onto several tangents. (she knows he has OCD). She

>was just baffled. Then she concluded that she didn't see anything in him

>that indicated his OCD played ANY role in his concentration and learning

>difficulty in class. Apparently she assumed there must be a problem at home

>and she questioned me about it! I concluded that perhaps OCD is not

>mentioned in the curriculum leading to certification as a school

>psychologist?? (sarcasm intended)

>a

> Re: " 5:55 " irritating compulsion

>

>

> > My Anne often has a very difficult time telling a story because she too

> > cannot ignore all the little thoughts branching off from the main one.

>You

> > can see her struggling sometimes, saying one thing and thinking about

> > something else, but trying hard not to digress. Sometimes she comes to a

> > complete stop and looks really worried, clearly thinking " should I say

>this

> > or should I just go on? " I never really connected it to her OCD but now

>that

> > I think about it, I suppose it is related to not being able to sort

>thoughts

> > efficiently. She gives all thoughts equal importance and perhaps feels

> > something " bad " will happen if she doesn't say them, since she has

>thought

> > them.

> > So far, announcing the time only comes in when it is an interesting time

> > (7:11, or 3:33, etc) but I'm sure we 'll experience this too someday!

>The

> > only thing that we have found that helps is to maintain eye contact and

>try

> > to be especially soothing and relaxed when listening to these (endless)

> > monologues. She then seems more able to focus.

> >

> >

> >

> > You may subscribe to the OCD-L by emailing listserv@... . In

>the body of your message write: subscribe OCD-L your name. You may

>subscribe to the Parents of Adults with OCD List at

>parentsofadultswithOCD-subscribe . You may subscribe to

>the OCD and Homeschooling List at

>ocdandhomeschooling-subscribe . You may change your

>subscription format or access the files, bookmarks, and archives for our

>list at . Our list advisors

>are Tamar Chansky, Ph.D., Aureen Pinto Wagner, Ph.D., and Dan Geller, M.D.

>Our list moderators are Birkhan, Kathy Hammes, Jule Monnens, Gail

>Pesses, Kathy , and Jackie Stout. Subscription issues or

>suggestions may be addressed to Louis Harkins, list owner, at

>lharkins@... .

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

I know just how you must feel, . Sometimes it is just too exasperating

to even begin to argue!

Re: " 5:55 " irritating compulsion

> Well, our school psychologist concluded that Anne had ADHD based on three

> sentences from me and then finished her judgement with " of course, I''ve

> never met your daughter.... " So just what is required to be a school

> psychologist??

>

>

>

> You may subscribe to the OCD-L by emailing listserv@... . In

the body of your message write: subscribe OCD-L your name. You may

subscribe to the Parents of Adults with OCD List at

parentsofadultswithOCD-subscribe . You may subscribe to

the OCD and Homeschooling List at

ocdandhomeschooling-subscribe . You may change your

subscription format or access the files, bookmarks, and archives for our

list at . Our list advisors

are Tamar Chansky, Ph.D., Aureen Pinto Wagner, Ph.D., and Dan Geller, M.D.

Our list moderators are Birkhan, Kathy Hammes, Jule Monnens, Gail

Pesses, Kathy , and Jackie Stout. Subscription issues or

suggestions may be addressed to Louis Harkins, list owner, at

lharkins@... .

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

At 01:08 PM 03/16/2001 -0000, you wrote:

>| If the removal of the clock isnt the answer, then how about

>|suggesting to your daughter that you are aware that she is going to

>|announce that its 5:55, so her 'job' is to not do it? If she says

>|something like: " I can't help it " then remind her that its ocd

>|controlling her and that she needs to be in charge, not some brat of a

>|thought! Before the " time " , remind her that its almost 5:55 and that

>|SHE has to be in control, to 'Boss Back' the urge, or perhaps, resist

>|the urge - whatever language you are using at home. When she succeeds,

>|dont forget to cheer her on!!

-- thanks for your helpful suggestions! Because the digital clocks

are helpful to others of us in the house, I decided not to remove them

(yet!). So, I talked to about " 5:55 " being an OCD behavior, and asked

her to stop saying it. I told her that she had control, and she could

" boss back " that habit. So far, two nights, and she hasn't said " 5:55. "

She admits to noticing that time in her head, but refrains from saying it

outloud. Is that OK?

Just a thought: I'm thinking digital clocks must have been invented by

someone with OCD!!!

Jeanie

near Portland, Oregon

[Guest guest]

Jeanie, near Portland, Oregon

Great success!! Sounds like is already understanding the difference

between being in controlled and being controlled!!

Ask if she can now stop saying the time to herself? That is the next

stage to illimating a compulsion - otherwise, its still there but you dont

notice it as much!! Use the same cheerleading techniques as before.

Good work, Jeanie!! wendy in canada

=================================================================

>>So, I talked to about " 5:55 " being an OCD behavior, and asked

>her to stop saying it. I told her that she had control, and she could

> " boss back " that habit. So far, two nights, and she hasn't said " 5:55. "

>She admits to noticing that time in her head, but refrains from saying it

>outloud. Is that OK?

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