Worried and scared

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I'm new to the list and desperately seeking someone to talk to. We just found

out yesterday (from a psychologist) that our 9 yr old son possibly has ocd.

As far as I could tell, his odd behavior started only about two weeks ago.

First he started saving lint, dust, specks that he could see, tiny bits of hair,

and tiny scraps of paper. I thought it was strange that he would take these

things to his room to " save " . But quickly it turned into saving any paper

goods,

digging in the trash for paper towels, and then wanting to dig in trash cans

that weren't ours. He would cry if he lost a speck of paper...crying that he

would never see it again. He wouldn't want to move from his spot till he found

it again.

It is the strangest thing to watch your child change so drastically. He now

has trash bags on his bedroom floor, drawers full of trash, his closet too, and

I had to roll up his little rug because he lost a speck on it and someone

might walk on this rug and take the speck out of his room. He won't have any

friends over because they could leave the house with these specks. He won't wear

his shoes because they " might " have sand in them and that could fall out when

he's outdoors. I had to actually go buy him new shoes. He's had them two days

and now doesn't want those on either. He tells us not to walk down the center

of the hallway because he thinks he may have dropped a hair there. I can't

even sweep, let alone mop, because when I did two weeks ago, he crawled along

with the broom taking everything he saw that was important. Now my Mom sweeps

while I take ds out somewhere. If I buy fast food, I have to toss out the paper

goods before he sees them. (I dump the fries, etc into one bag..this way he

only saves the one bag.)

I also have to take the trash out after he's gone to bed. Oh, and when I do

take him to the store, he walks with his eyes closed and usually his hands are

clutched tight holding any dust he's come across. He closes his eyes because

he says if he sees something on the ground, he'll have to pick it up. At the

store two days ago, ds claimed he lost a tiny speck of skin on the cashier's

counter. We held up the whole line while we both searched for it. The cashier

was

asking what was wrong with him. Some people thought he was retarded, others

said he was crazy. I could barely hold back my tears. I have no clue what to

do. My dh works nights, sleeps days. I really have no one to watch ds. Also dh

just doesn't believe that our son has ocd. He just keeps yelling at him to

stop. The yelling can get really bad. There's times when I just want to scream

at ds myself and tell him okay, this is enough already. Ds asks me if he's

crazy and I just have to cry. It's so sad to see him acting like this. My

friends

that have dropped by think he is crazy. DS insists that they brush off their

clothes before they leave, including the bottom of their shoes. Has anyone ever

heard of anything like this before?? My brother told me that ds acts like

" Monk " . I'd never heard of Monk but he says it's a tv show I should watch.

It all happened so fast. I'm not sure what to do, though I did make an appt

for ds to see the psychologist. I just wish the appt were sooner! What does

everyone do about school? Right now I'm homeschooling, but that's for other

reasons. He's way ahead academically. I really would like for him to go back to

school. School at home now is not easy as he's constantly having to take lint,

etc to his room.

I've been looking up info on the internet about ocd and I think my son would

be considered a hoarder. Does anyone know of a support group in the Los

Angeles/San Bernardino area for parents or family of hoarders? I would like for

my

son to meet someone like him so he can see he's not the only one. Or even just

be able to email someone else like him. This is all so strange. I am really

worried and scared for him. What does this all mean for his future? He is such a

nice and polite kid too. Very calm with a big heart. It's so hard to see him

crying every 15 minutes because of some missing fuzz. Can anyone recommend a

book? Sorry for all the questions, but we could sure use some help.

Thanks,

Debbi