Guest guest Posted February 7, 2006 Report Share Posted February 7, 2006 I'm new. My older son (15) has been diagnosed for a few years and is pretty much okay, although his OCD gets in the way of homework getting done and he's quirky and inflexible. In the past year my younger son (10) has been showing many symptons, including fear of germs. Now the biggest problem is he can't stand to hear us cough or " breathe funny. " He feels he must run and tap (or hit a bit harder) anyone who coughs. Right now my 15 year old has a cough and the 10 year old is running around trying to tap/hit him all the time. The 10 year old gets frustrated and exhausted and now is imitating the coughing and really trying to hit my older son hard. They can't be together at all. This is crazy. How are we supposed to live like this? Should I put my 10 year old son on meds too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 Hi there, I think you should have your younger son assessed for OCD. You could discuss your concerns with your older boy's pdoc. If he does have the disorder, or has enough symptoms that are interfering with day to day life, he could certainly benefit from treatment. Ten is certainly not too young to intervene and treat OCD. The first suggested treatment for kids with OCD is a certain type of therapy called Cognitive Behavior Therapy with Exposure and Response Prevention. This has been proved to reduce and eliminate OCD symptoms, no other type of therapy does this. As you know, some kids need medication as well. Both treatments were necessary to get and keep my child's OCD symptoms low. There have been a number of posts recently about sensitivity to eating sounds, coughing and so on. You might be surprised how common these types of obsessions are. If your older boy has not had the benefit of this therapy, please do consider it in addition to his medication. Medication made a big difference in the severity of my daughter's OCD, but it was the med plus effective therapy that was the key to pushing her OCD in a corner so to speak, and keeping it there. Some pdocs won't mention the therapy. Kathy R. in Indiana ----- Original Message ----- From: " smarty2twins " <smarty2twins@...> > I'm new. My older son (15) has been diagnosed for a few years and is > pretty much okay, although his OCD gets in the way of homework getting > done and he's quirky and inflexible. > > In the past year my younger son (10) has been showing many symptons, > including fear of germs. Now the biggest problem is he can't stand to > hear us cough or " breathe funny. " He feels he must run and tap (or > hit a bit harder) anyone who coughs. Right now my 15 year old has a > cough and the 10 year old is running around trying to tap/hit him all > the time. The 10 year old gets frustrated and exhausted and now is > imitating the coughing and really trying to hit my older son hard. > They can't be together at all. This is crazy. How are we supposed to > live like this? Should I put my 10 year old son on meds too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 Hi there, I think you should have your younger son assessed for OCD. You could discuss your concerns with your older boy's pdoc. If he does have the disorder, or has enough symptoms that are interfering with day to day life, he could certainly benefit from treatment. Ten is certainly not too young to intervene and treat OCD. The first suggested treatment for kids with OCD is a certain type of therapy called Cognitive Behavior Therapy with Exposure and Response Prevention. This has been proved to reduce and eliminate OCD symptoms, no other type of therapy does this. As you know, some kids need medication as well. Both treatments were necessary to get and keep my child's OCD symptoms low. There have been a number of posts recently about sensitivity to eating sounds, coughing and so on. You might be surprised how common these types of obsessions are. If your older boy has not had the benefit of this therapy, please do consider it in addition to his medication. Medication made a big difference in the severity of my daughter's OCD, but it was the med plus effective therapy that was the key to pushing her OCD in a corner so to speak, and keeping it there. Some pdocs won't mention the therapy. Kathy R. in Indiana ----- Original Message ----- From: " smarty2twins " <smarty2twins@...> > I'm new. My older son (15) has been diagnosed for a few years and is > pretty much okay, although his OCD gets in the way of homework getting > done and he's quirky and inflexible. > > In the past year my younger son (10) has been showing many symptons, > including fear of germs. Now the biggest problem is he can't stand to > hear us cough or " breathe funny. " He feels he must run and tap (or > hit a bit harder) anyone who coughs. Right now my 15 year old has a > cough and the 10 year old is running around trying to tap/hit him all > the time. The 10 year old gets frustrated and exhausted and now is > imitating the coughing and really trying to hit my older son hard. > They can't be together at all. This is crazy. How are we supposed to > live like this? Should I put my 10 year old son on meds too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2006 Report Share Posted February 8, 2006 My son's OCD started becoming severe with a similar " breathing " problem, and then extended into sounds of chewing, the dishwasher, etc... The only thing helping him now is constant exposure (and deep breathing exercises during exposure). I force listening exposures on him. Breathing is no longer a problem and neither is washing the dishes, but chewing continues to be a big challenge. Yet, slowly we're making progress. I think the quicker you react with exposures the easier it is to get it under control. With the tapping and hitting. I'd redirect that to an inanimate object. (Like having him tap or hit a pillow). I hope that helps. You are definitely not alone with this problem. Tess > > > I'm new. My older son (15) has been diagnosed for > a few years and is > > pretty much okay, although his OCD gets in the way > of homework getting > > done and he's quirky and inflexible. > > > > In the past year my younger son (10) has been > showing many symptons, > > including fear of germs. Now the biggest problem > is he can't stand to > > hear us cough or " breathe funny. " He feels he > must run and tap (or > > hit a bit harder) anyone who coughs. Right now my > 15 year old has a > > cough and the 10 year old is running around trying > to tap/hit him all > > the time. The 10 year old gets frustrated and > exhausted and now is > > imitating the coughing and really trying to hit my > older son hard. > > They can't be together at all. This is crazy. > How are we supposed to > > live like this? Should I put my 10 year old son > on meds too? > > __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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