Re: how to fight The Butterfly Effect?

[Guest guest]

Hi Gale,

I should have read your posts in order!

I imagine a lot of OCD sufferers feel that OCD keeps them " safe. "

With my son (15), his compulsions had to do with keeping something

bad from happening to " him " and also he had to get a " just right "

feeling.

He went through an erasing spell also, sometimes without even

rewriting it! That was WAY back at the beginning of when OCD seemed

to suddenly hit him severely. For some reason, the erasing

compulsion went away after a few months, though of course all these

new things were popping up. Logically, he knew nothing bad would

happen to him, but that urge/feeling of dread or whatever (OCD) is

tough to fight. I hope the new doctor gives you much more help than

the previous one. In the meantime, perhaps she can work on things a

bit herself, like resisting the urge for longer periods before

erasing.

Well, not much help but keep us updated on how things are going!

> My daughter is 14 and discovered that her " craziness " was OCD last

February.

> She hates having this disorder, of course, because it makes things

like

> reading and writing and SOOOO many other things so difficult. She

is afraid

> to fight it, however, because she is not convinced that OCD isn't a

friend!

> " It keeps me safe, " she says. (Contamination fears being the

biggie.)

>

>>

[Guest guest]

Hi Gale,

I should have read your posts in order!

I imagine a lot of OCD sufferers feel that OCD keeps them " safe. "

With my son (15), his compulsions had to do with keeping something

bad from happening to " him " and also he had to get a " just right "

feeling.

He went through an erasing spell also, sometimes without even

rewriting it! That was WAY back at the beginning of when OCD seemed

to suddenly hit him severely. For some reason, the erasing

compulsion went away after a few months, though of course all these

new things were popping up. Logically, he knew nothing bad would

happen to him, but that urge/feeling of dread or whatever (OCD) is

tough to fight. I hope the new doctor gives you much more help than

the previous one. In the meantime, perhaps she can work on things a

bit herself, like resisting the urge for longer periods before

erasing.

Well, not much help but keep us updated on how things are going!

> My daughter is 14 and discovered that her " craziness " was OCD last

February.

> She hates having this disorder, of course, because it makes things

like

> reading and writing and SOOOO many other things so difficult. She

is afraid

> to fight it, however, because she is not convinced that OCD isn't a

friend!

> " It keeps me safe, " she says. (Contamination fears being the

biggie.)

>

>>

[Guest guest]

Hi Gale,

I should have read your posts in order!

I imagine a lot of OCD sufferers feel that OCD keeps them " safe. "

With my son (15), his compulsions had to do with keeping something

bad from happening to " him " and also he had to get a " just right "

feeling.

He went through an erasing spell also, sometimes without even

rewriting it! That was WAY back at the beginning of when OCD seemed

to suddenly hit him severely. For some reason, the erasing

compulsion went away after a few months, though of course all these

new things were popping up. Logically, he knew nothing bad would

happen to him, but that urge/feeling of dread or whatever (OCD) is

tough to fight. I hope the new doctor gives you much more help than

the previous one. In the meantime, perhaps she can work on things a

bit herself, like resisting the urge for longer periods before

erasing.

Well, not much help but keep us updated on how things are going!

> My daughter is 14 and discovered that her " craziness " was OCD last

February.

> She hates having this disorder, of course, because it makes things

like

> reading and writing and SOOOO many other things so difficult. She

is afraid

> to fight it, however, because she is not convinced that OCD isn't a

friend!

> " It keeps me safe, " she says. (Contamination fears being the

biggie.)

>

>>

[Guest guest]

Dear Gale,

I've never heard of The Butterfly Effect, but I am amazed that anyone

would write a book like that!!!! Were they TRYING to cause an epidemic of

childhood OCD??? Geez. Unbelievable.

You're on the right track, reading Tamar Chansky's book. I'd look at

Aureen Pinto-Wagner's books too. She has one for children called Up and Down the

Worry Hill, which your daughter will scoff at (being 14...) but it might help

her anyway, if you can convince her to read it. It's only about 35 pages long,

with big print. A very quick read. You could tell her that if she works very

hard at Exposure and Response Prevention therapy that she may not have to take

medication. Lots of people conquer OCD alone without medication. Remind her of

how frustrated she is trying to do her homework and assure her that she will

feel much better when she beats OCD.

I wish you lots of luck on this one - it's hard talking a 14 year old

girl into anything she doesn't want to do!

in NV

[Guest guest]

Dear Gale,

I've never heard of The Butterfly Effect, but I am amazed that anyone

would write a book like that!!!! Were they TRYING to cause an epidemic of

childhood OCD??? Geez. Unbelievable.

You're on the right track, reading Tamar Chansky's book. I'd look at

Aureen Pinto-Wagner's books too. She has one for children called Up and Down the

Worry Hill, which your daughter will scoff at (being 14...) but it might help

her anyway, if you can convince her to read it. It's only about 35 pages long,

with big print. A very quick read. You could tell her that if she works very

hard at Exposure and Response Prevention therapy that she may not have to take

medication. Lots of people conquer OCD alone without medication. Remind her of

how frustrated she is trying to do her homework and assure her that she will

feel much better when she beats OCD.

I wish you lots of luck on this one - it's hard talking a 14 year old

girl into anything she doesn't want to do!

in NV

[Guest guest]

Dear Gale,

I've never heard of The Butterfly Effect, but I am amazed that anyone

would write a book like that!!!! Were they TRYING to cause an epidemic of

childhood OCD??? Geez. Unbelievable.

You're on the right track, reading Tamar Chansky's book. I'd look at

Aureen Pinto-Wagner's books too. She has one for children called Up and Down the

Worry Hill, which your daughter will scoff at (being 14...) but it might help

her anyway, if you can convince her to read it. It's only about 35 pages long,

with big print. A very quick read. You could tell her that if she works very

hard at Exposure and Response Prevention therapy that she may not have to take

medication. Lots of people conquer OCD alone without medication. Remind her of

how frustrated she is trying to do her homework and assure her that she will

feel much better when she beats OCD.

I wish you lots of luck on this one - it's hard talking a 14 year old

girl into anything she doesn't want to do!

in NV

[Guest guest]

Hi Gale, the good news is that your daughter's obsession that OCD is good,

keeping her safe and alive, etc. is really common and a good child therapist

expert in CBT/ERP for OCD will be able to address this. BTW, it is the

therapist's job to engage your daughter in the therapy, as you can imagine

hardly any child is enthusiastic and positive from day one at the prospect

of this! Her OCD is probably warning her away from meds and therapy " to

keep her safe " . My child at 7 and 8 was convinced that if she did anything

to try to make OCD smaller or go away (therapy exposures -- weirdly she did

not balk at taking meds), OCD would retaliate by getting so much worse she

couldn't stand it.

I would try to work a deal with your daughter about medication. Or have you

tried insisting? Many experts believe the fastest route to symptom relief

is meds plus therapy. Medication can make it easier for children to tackle

the hard work of therapy and experience success. Medication does not have

to be forever, and some can comfortably discontinue it following successful

CBT/ERP.

You are wise to not keep seeing any therapist who has not brought about a

reduction in your daughter's symptom level within a few visits.

Three weeks to wait for the OCD expert is not so very long in the bigger

scheme of things. You may get in quicker if you call her office and ask to

be placed on her cancellation list.

I've read about the Butterfly Effect but never thought of it in an OCD way.

Now that I do, I see it's a pretty dead-on description of OCD disasterizing

thinking!

Take care, good luck, it does get better!

Kathy R. in Indiana

----- Original Message -----

> My daughter is 14 and discovered that her " craziness " was OCD last

February.

> She hates having this disorder, of course, because it makes things like

> reading and writing and SOOOO many other things so difficult. She is

afraid

> to fight it, however, because she is not convinced that OCD isn't a

friend!

> " It keeps me safe, " she says. (Contamination fears being the biggie.)

>

> I've been reading Tamar Chansky's book and discussing things with her.

Last

> night she was having lots of trouble with homework because whenever she

> makes a mistake she has to erase everything that went before it on that

line

> or in that sentence and do it all over to correct it. I tried to get her

to

> 'outsmart' the OCD demands, but she - as usual - wouldn't try. I asked

her

> why and she reminded me of the story of a boy who sat in the " wrong " seat

> and inadvertently caused his grandmother to die. The Butterfly Effect.

> THAT is why she feels she has to follow what OCD is telling her! She's

> afraid she might inadvertently cause something awful to happen! Any

> suggestions??

>

> She was seeing a therapist at the County Health Department here (we have

no

> insurance for mental health issues) but she was not making progress.

Wrong

> therapy, anxiety level too high, etc. She has a first appointment with a

> pediatric psychiatrist next Tuesday, but she is ADAMANT about not taking

> medication. I found someone fairly close who is experienced in treating

OCD

> issues in children, but we can't get in there for another 3 weeks. We are

> both so frustrated!!

>

> --Gale in Illinois