Re: Mom in Mass- back to school???

[Guest guest]

Oh well. It's 8:55 now... She really tried. Got up early, had her

outfit all picked out... took a shower... But the anxiety it kicked

up was too strong.

I don't want her to feel bad, but I KNOW later today she'll say she

wished she went. I guess all we can say is that tomorrow is another

day, and let's work on the tools to get her through the anxiety

today...(sigh).

Thanks for the encouragement- I'l let her know.

> Dear Mom in Mass-

>

> It's really great to hear of the positive progress your daughter is

> making!! Tell her we're cheering for her here in Ohio.

>

> As far as going back to school goes, I would say if she wants to,

> let her give it a try. It sounds like she's really learning *and*

> using tools necessary to boss back OCD, and what a great way to

show

> her your confidence (even though you're trembling inside) by

> encouraging her and supporting her in her goals. Maybe you could

> talk about how proud you are of her desire to go back to school,

and

> ask her if she thinks she's ready for a whole day. You could

> discuss a 'plan B' if she finds a whole day is too much so she has

a

> way out. I know with my daughter, things that I thought would be

> too hard for her to do were surprisingly (to me) successful when

she

> was very motivated. She also seems to do better bossing back OCD

> outside the home...she's 13 now, and a big motivating factor

> is 'normalcy' with her peers. Anyway, for my 2 cents, I vote for

> encouraging her to go, with a back-up plan if she feels she needs

it.

>

> Best wishes for both of you tomorrow Please post how it goes.

>

> Blessings-

>

> (Ohio) Anne (13, OCD, Lexapro, very much an adolescent)

[Guest guest]

Dear Mom in Mass-

Good for her for trying!!! Celebrate those steps with her...getting

dressed, getting up early...it's seems like she's pushing herself to

her max on her 'heirarchy' of defeating OCD. What a gutsy kid she

is! There are times in our house when we celebrate just *thinking*

about how to defeat OCD...sometimes its that tough. Take a deep

breath and really praise the positive today. You are very right and

very wise...tomorrow is another day.

Hang in there. ((((Hugs)))) to you. Sometimes progress is

painstakingly slow, and if you're anything like me, it's one of the

HARDEST aspects of this disease for me to deal with.

Thanks for posting. I'll keep you guys in my thoughts and prayers

today.

Blessings-

(Ohio) and Anne

[Guest guest]

I'm new 1 week to this group. I think you're doing great. My son is 12 and

had ocd and add, we've been dealing with this for one year and we're still

figurung out the right meds. Paxil worked for a year and now we've been

struggling

since Aug. Sounds like you're making great strides. My so has difficulty

getting to school , though he made it 6 days in a row. Hang in there. Marcy

[Guest guest]

HI Liz:

Your daughter has made great strides in such a short time. This is a

very good sign that she will do very well with her recovery - you

must be so proud of her. She is also a very good age for learning

how to cope with OCD.

I hope your anxiety about her will subside in due course. Some of us

parents have found that taking an SSRI or SNRI is quite helpful in

keeping us calmer in the face of all the upheaval that OCD can

bring. I took Effexor XR for two years and it was very helpful to me.

The obsessive thoughts variety of OCD is now considered to be more

prevalent than the handwashing variety, even though the latter is the

more classic one written about in earlier books on OCD. Dr. Lee

Baer's book, " The Imp of the Mind " is a very good discussion of the

more mental obsessions and compulsions flavor of OCD.

Thanks for keeping us posted on your daughter's progress. Take care,

aloha, Kathy (h)

kathy.hi@...

> Update on my 9 year old: OCD/TS. She has seen the psychiatrist

three

> times so far, and the therapist for behavior tx three times as

well.

> (Not bad considerng the dx was made on Jan.9th).

>

> Anyway, she is on Zyprexa and Luvox. She is definitely moving

> forward. Her anxiety still creeps in, but she is even getting

better

> at handling that.

>

> She is Veeery motivated/interested in going back to school

tomorrow.

> She has not been since she began her " breakdown " (for lack of a

> better word) on Jan 6th. She went for a short visit, which went

> well, but she had a little trouble that night.

>

> Wel, we've solve the peeng problem. She is no longer going in the

> tub, and trying not to listen to OCD when it tells her to check

every

> half hour. Today she also worked on eating. (She was too anxious

to

> eat/feared nausea/made the anxiety worse, etc...). Today's tx

> session focused on that, and she's been eating non-stop since.

>

> Her tx-ist said re: school that we should leave it up to her. I

> caled the psych., and he suggested an easy transition (mornings for

a

> week or two). Oh my god, my chest hurts already just thinking

about

> it. Any words of reassurance out there? Just a reminder, her OCD

> was of the obsessive thoughts flavor, not the washing/checking.

So

> I don't know if it will show up in school now. It is her anxiety

I'm

> worried about... Maybe I'm just plain worried :-(

[Guest guest]

-

Oh kathy-

I wish I could keep that feeling of optimism. The fact is that we've

had a couple rough days since she attemtped th school. She is not

really willing to accept that a lot of her anxiety is due to OCD.

Right now we are in the middle of a meltdown (had one during tx

yesterday). She says if we just go somewhere, she'll feel better.

When I try to point out that it is a classic OCD " ploy " , she screams

that it's not OCD. I think that I get the worst of these meltdowns.

(My husband isn't home right now).

She is a really bright 9 year old, and so we can't really talk to her

about the OCD " monster " etc.

I feel like she was making progress, but these lsat two days her anx.

level and depression seem to be ever-present. (Or at least most of

the time). It is really tiring trying to constantly keep

her " external " , but I know it's necessary.

Yikes.... a down day for me, too.

L

-- In , " Kathy Hammes " <kathy.hi@v...>

wrote:

> HI Liz:

>

> Your daughter has made great strides in such a short time. This is

a

> very good sign that she will do very well with her recovery - you

> must be so proud of her. She is also a very good age for learning

> how to cope with OCD.

>

> I hope your anxiety about her will subside in due course. Some of

us

> parents have found that taking an SSRI or SNRI is quite helpful in

> keeping us calmer in the face of all the upheaval that OCD can

> bring. I took Effexor XR for two years and it was very helpful to

me.

>

> The obsessive thoughts variety of OCD is now considered to be more

> prevalent than the handwashing variety, even though the latter is

the

> more classic one written about in earlier books on OCD. Dr. Lee

> Baer's book, " The Imp of the Mind " is a very good discussion of the

> more mental obsessions and compulsions flavor of OCD.

>

> Thanks for keeping us posted on your daughter's progress. Take

care,

> aloha, Kathy (h)

>

> kathy.hi@v...

>

>

> > Update on my 9 year old: OCD/TS. She has seen the psychiatrist

> three

> > times so far, and the therapist for behavior tx three times as

> well.

> > (Not bad considerng the dx was made on Jan.9th).

> >

> > Anyway, she is on Zyprexa and Luvox. She is definitely moving

> > forward. Her anxiety still creeps in, but she is even getting

> better

> > at handling that.

> >

> > She is Veeery motivated/interested in going back to school

> tomorrow.

> > She has not been since she began her " breakdown " (for lack of a

> > better word) on Jan 6th. She went for a short visit, which went

> > well, but she had a little trouble that night.

> >

> > Wel, we've solve the peeng problem. She is no longer going in

the

> > tub, and trying not to listen to OCD when it tells her to check

> every

> > half hour. Today she also worked on eating. (She was too

anxious

> to

> > eat/feared nausea/made the anxiety worse, etc...). Today's tx

> > session focused on that, and she's been eating non-stop since.

> >

> > Her tx-ist said re: school that we should leave it up to her. I

> > caled the psych., and he suggested an easy transition (mornings

for

> a

> > week or two). Oh my god, my chest hurts already just thinking

> about

> > it. Any words of reassurance out there? Just a reminder, her

OCD

> > was of the obsessive thoughts flavor, not the washing/checking.

> So

> > I don't know if it will show up in school now. It is her anxiety

> I'm

> > worried about... Maybe I'm just plain worried :-(