Guest guest Posted June 17, 2004 Report Share Posted June 17, 2004 , Obsessive thoughts Our son also has obsessive thoughts but will not admit what he is thinking. This makes it especially difficult to do ERP with him at home. So far, since he was diagnosed in February, he has been going weekly to a therapist who has had other OCD patients and she just said yesterday that is not progressing as well as he should be because he doesn't want to " feel the anxiety " when doing ERP. Is this common? If so, what can we do to facilitate this process? His meds have been stable for the past 1-2 months at 50 mg. Luvox daily and 15 mg. Buspar (for anxiety). We just started him on Inositol and hope that it will supplement the meds without having to put him on more meds - we're pretty anti-medication in our house. What to do? I was reading Cristey's and 's posts with interest. is still " stuck " a lot of the time and cannot handle school work (I homeschool), chores, etc. Most of the time, he takes a long time to transition. I used to do everything for him but realize that is not healthy for any of us. But, I find there's a fine line between expecting more from him and sending him into a meltdown. We live about 2-1/2 hours from Dr. Hyman's OCD center in Ft. Lauderdale and will be attending his support group for children and adolescents (and their parents) with OCD which is held the second Wed. of each month. I'm hoping to learn a lot from this because I don't process things as well from books that I read on what to do. I seem to need the " people " support more. Any words of wisdom would be appreciated. Thanks for listening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 17, 2004 Report Share Posted June 17, 2004 , I think it's a strong instinct for them to want to avoid the anxiety. That's the nature of the beast, I believe. I, too, am not crazy about medicine, but really at this point in my son's life, we did not have options. He was not eating, crying all the time, etc. I suppose none of us take pleasure in giving our kids psychoactive substances for reasons of concerns for their developing brains, costs, stigma, etc. I don't suppose you're alone in your aversion to the idea. Still, immediately after my son started the Zoloft, there was such a lift in his mood and relief of his anxiety that my feelings toward medicine took a turn for the better. I was just literally professing, " Thank God for Zoloft! " As he's gotten more and more stable and further away from the initial onset this time around, I start vacillating again about his having to take it. How soon we forget. I don't know how aggressive a therapist or mother needs to be when it comes to initiating the discussion about the thoughts. I appealed to my son the first time with it by telling him it was the only proven way of fighting this disorder-the only way to get long-term real relief from the fears. Of course, that first night he had a TOTAL meltdown while in the bathtub, stating he wanted to die, but it's not been that way since. Good luck with his therapy. How wonderful to be able to attend meetings at that OCD Center. You're sure to get wonderful support and direction there. Take care, in Southern Illinois Obsessive thoughts Our son also has obsessive thoughts but will not admit what he is thinking. This makes it especially difficult to do ERP with him at home. So far, since he was diagnosed in February, he has been going weekly to a therapist who has had other OCD patients and she just said yesterday that is not progressing as well as he should be because he doesn't want to " feel the anxiety " when doing ERP. Is this common? If so, what can we do to facilitate this process? His meds have been stable for the past 1-2 months at 50 mg. Luvox daily and 15 mg. Buspar (for anxiety). We just started him on Inositol and hope that it will supplement the meds without having to put him on more meds - we're pretty anti-medication in our house. What to do? I was reading Cristey's and 's posts with interest. is still " stuck " a lot of the time and cannot handle school work (I homeschool), chores, etc. Most of the time, he takes a long time to transition. I used to do everything for him but realize that is not healthy for any of us. But, I find there's a fine line between expecting more from him and sending him into a meltdown. We live about 2-1/2 hours from Dr. Hyman's OCD center in Ft. Lauderdale and will be attending his support group for children and adolescents (and their parents) with OCD which is held the second Wed. of each month. I'm hoping to learn a lot from this because I don't process things as well from books that I read on what to do. I seem to need the " people " support more. Any words of wisdom would be appreciated. Thanks for listening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 18, 2004 Report Share Posted June 18, 2004 , Very early in my dd's (it's still early) diagnosis, it would have been unreasonable to ask her to do her chores, school,etc. She was in a constant state of meltdown. It has been a blessing that we also homeschool since she was able to quit doing it for awhile. A couple of weeks ago, she and I finished some subjects orally and scantily and she is in the process of finishing math this summer. Currently, I require 20 minutes of math/day, but as she improves, I'll increase the time/day. She is now 'functioning' and I'm requiring her to accomplish things. She and I discuss this every morning and I find that all day long I must keep on going with kind but business-like reminders. She also, gets stuck and can't seem to transition. I would guess that this is typical ocd fashion and probably challenging him to do things is good. I wonder about multi-tasking? Would this help? My instinct says yes, but maybe this is overload. Thinking out loud...there's a card game called Nerts that is similiar to double solitaire that is a speed game with lots of multi-tasking things to do...playing cards from two different piles, etc. It's wild, cards flying when the whole family plays... We might try this this weekend. Multi-tasking might help the brain get out of its rut. I'd love to hear comments about this from others. I have five other kids (Lexi--12yrold) is #3 of out 6) who have kept the house functioning and have had to try come to terms with her inability to carry her load. I'm so glad you're planning to head to Ft.Lauderdale...please share with us your gleanings when you return! Blessings, cristey On Thu, 17 Jun 2004 21:12:36 -0400 " mrsflowermom " writes: > Our son also has obsessive thoughts but will not admit what he is > thinking. This makes it especially difficult to do ERP with him at > home. So far, since he was diagnosed in February, he has been going > weekly to a therapist who has had other OCD patients and she just > said yesterday that is not progressing as well as he should > be because he doesn't want to " feel the anxiety " when doing ERP. Is > this common? If so, what can we do to facilitate this process? His > meds have been stable for the past 1-2 months at 50 mg. Luvox daily > and 15 mg. Buspar (for anxiety). We just started him on Inositol > and hope that it will supplement the meds without having to put him > on more meds - we're pretty anti-medication in our house. What to > do? I was reading Cristey's and 's posts with interest. > is still " stuck " a lot of the time and cannot handle school > work (I homeschool), chores, etc. Most of the time, he takes a long > time to transition. I used to do everything for him but realize > that is not healthy for any of us. But, I find there's a fine line > between expecting more from him and sending him into a meltdown. We > live about 2-1/2 hours from Dr. Hyman's OCD center in Ft. Lauderdale > and will be attending his support group for children and adolescents > (and their parents) with OCD which is held the second Wed. of each > month. I'm hoping to learn a lot from this because I don't process > things as well from books that I read on what to do. I seem to need > the " people " support more. Any words of wisdom would be > appreciated. Thanks for listening. > ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the Web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 18, 2004 Report Share Posted June 18, 2004 ----- Original Message ----- > Our son also has obsessive thoughts but will not admit what he is thinking. This makes it especially difficult to do ERP with him at home. So far, since he was diagnosed in February, he has been going weekly to a therapist who has had other OCD patients and she just said yesterday that is not progressing as well as he should be because he doesn't want to " feel the anxiety " when doing ERP. Is this common? *****Of course, LOL, who wants to feel anxiety?? :-) The therapist is blaming the victim here. It is her job to engage your son, craft his exposures so that he is willing and able to feel anxiety for a period at a reasonable level so he can move forward toward recovery. If that is not happening, she needs to look at what she is doing that is not working, and make adjustments. Were the other OCD patients kids? Did they get better? > If so, what can we do to facilitate this process? *****One thing to look at is whether the exposures he's being asked to do are too high on his hierarchy--too hard for him right now. (This is also the therapist's job btw.) If so, they could be broken into smaller, doable bits. Another idea is to speak with his doctor about medication adjustment, he may need higher doses or different meds in order to be comfortable enough to participate in therapy. I don't think the inositol would be helping him any yet if you've just started it. Take care, Kathy R. in Indiana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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