12 yr old scared of intruders at night

April 7, 2007

Hi,

My daughter (almost 13) was diagnosed w/ OCD about 3 yrs ago. Her main

issue was worrying that she had not wiped enough after having a BM. She

spent long periods of time in the bathroom wiping and wiping. The other

concern was worrying that her pets would get out of their cages; she spent

quite a lot of time checking them to be sure they were secured. She

actually has many more symptoms, but they are fairly minor and don't really

interfere w/ her life. She was on Luvox for a year until it suddenly stopped

working, and she had developed some side effects. After she stopped taking

the meds, we found a therapist who did CBT and ERT, and after a few months

seemed okay, so she stopped seeing her. She's had some minor bumps, but

mostly has been coping okay for the last year. Recently she has developed a

major fear that someone is going to break into our house and kidnap or

murder her at night. It is pretty intense. Dh and I started laying w/ her

until she falls asleep, or it takes her hours to fall asleep. She then wakes

up in the middle of the night in a state of panic (as she thinks someone is

actually in her room), and darts into our room. A few nights ago, we finally

moved another bed into our room, so she could just sleep there. I'm

frustrated though because I'm nursing a baby and like to lie there and watch

TV as I nurse him to sleep, but the TV bothers her and she can't fall

asleep, or the shows seems scary. She also doesn't want me to get up and

leave her there once the baby is asleep because she is so scared! She is the

oldest of our 4 kids and I know I should be compassionate, but I feel angry,

and worn out instead. Any ideas? I know we need to start therapy again.

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