Re: - Reply & Question

[Guest guest]

--Regarding heredity of OCD, wrote:

>

> I would be very interested in hearing what others have to say about

this;

> since I would love to have children of my own some day, it's an

issue which

> could have a definite effect on my life.

>

Ever since my son (now 12) got diagnosed last Sept. when the

OCD really seemed to hit all at once (though I CAN see where he was

mild during his earlier years), I have thought back to my youth (I'm

43 now).

I remember things that could be attributed to OCD or something

similar. For instance, my mother and I never got along when I was a

teenager, and I had what I guess were " contamination " issues about

touching anything I knew she had touched; just her, no one else. I

would immediately want to wash my hands if I thought she had touched

something.

I also remember periods where I felt " disconnected " or like I was

sitting apart from the rest of the world. I had racing thoughts,

where I felt like I was on fast-forward, and I had to try to slow

myself/my thoughts down to normal.

I remember going through a " counting " stage, where I would count the

number of steps it took to get from one place to another, or how many

times I stirred something, etc.

All these (except the mom-contamination thing) would come and go;

sometimes be frequent then go away for months.

Anyway, I'd say they had all disappeared by the end of high school,

except that every once in a while over the years, the racing thoughts

seem to come back tho it might be years between.

's OCD doesn't seem to be the same as whatever I had in that

he recently said that EVERYTHING he does is to keep something bad

from happening to HIM. I don't quite see how some of the things he

does are connected to keeping something bad from happening, but his

OCD is something he refuses to talk about and doesn't want any

classmates/friends to know about. Anyway, he and I don't have any

similar symptoms tho I sometimes wonder if he gets the " racing

thoughts. "

My other 2 kids haven't been diagnosed with anything. They can drive

me crazy (3 sons, twins-12, oldest 16 next week). I guess that's

normal. I could probably FIND something to diagnose them with, with

some of their habits/quirks but nothing they do is affecting their

life like 's OCD does his.

A question for you if you can explain this: if OCD is an

anxiety disorder, it seems like the symptoms would appear only during

moments of stress, etc. But with it's like from the instant

he wakes up until he goes to bed. I even noticed it when he sleeps,

his hands moving, etc. So I guess I am trying to understand why if

it's an anxiety disorder, it's there 24-hours. It seems like it

would appear ONLY during stress/anxiety periods and not ALWAYS be

there.

I hope you can understand my question!!

Thank you for all your insight and help with this group!! You're

great!!!

in N.C.

[Guest guest]

>

> >

> > I would be very interested in hearing what others have to say

about

> this;

> > since I would love to have children of my own some day, it's an

> issue which

> > could have a definite effect on my life.

> >

Hi ,

We definitely see a genetic contribution in our family. My own OCD

hit me at exactly the same age it hit my daughter - 10. I struggled

with it a lot for about 15 years, since then it has receded quite a

bit. I still have my little rituals and anxieties to deal with , but

they don't usually interrupt my life anymore. My husband has

definite tendencies towards an OCPD, but I don't think anyone would

go so far as to diagnose him with it. Out of our three children, the

oldest was just diagnosed with OCD in January, we are watching my 6

year old son for either Tourette's Syndrome or Transient Tic Disorder

(both of which are included on the OCD spectrum), and the 3 year old

has been displaying definite OCD tendencies, although it's too soon

to tell if it's just normal 3 year old " give me attention " stuff or a

real problem. This is kind of a funny one - she always has to be

second everywhere! In the car, out of the car, in the house, second

to pray at family devotions, you get the idea. We are definitely

enabling her with this at this point - it's still too funny. Other

stuff too, like asking the same question over and over. We were

watching a play last Sunday: " Mommy, when's the wolf going to

come? " " There isn't any wolf. " " The wolf's gonna come now? " " No,

, there's no wolf in this play. " " Where's the wolf " " ,

(holding her face in my hands now)there is NO wolf in this play,

there is a GIANT. " " Oh.(one minute later) Is the wolf going to eat

the giant? "