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[Guest guest]

Hi! I just want to introduce myself. I am married & the mother of a 7

year old son & a 16 year old daughter. My daughter has OCD. She was

diagnosed when she was 9. Her symptoms started when she was 5. It

took all those years to get a name for what was torturing her. School

was hard for her, although there was a time of " remission " during the

middle school years. Freshman year was the worst. Kids can be cruel,

& she took a lot of harrassment because of her " irrational " fears.

Even teachers added to her stress by making her do things that she

just could not do because of the OCD (oral reports for example). 10th

grade started out just as bad. So when the principal gave her

detention for leaving class during an anxiety attack, I pulled her

out of school & started homeschooling. This has helped a lot. Right

now she is not taking any medication. She was gaining so much weight

from the SSRI's. The doctor let her try it without medication, but

her repetitions & worries are back. She doesn't do any therapy. She

refuses to. I am waiting for her to make the decision about going

back on meds. Decisions are hard for her. She is trying to get a part-

time job. I worry that she won't be able to handle a job. I guess we

will just have to wait and see what happens with that. Sometimes I

wonder if she will ever be able to live on her own. Well for now she

has Mom to help her out.We are just taking life one minute at a time.

Sometimes we have to laugh at our quirky life! My husband doesn't

understand or have the patience to try to understand what we are

dealing with. He is dealing with his own depression. He did finally

get help for that. Which takes some pressure off. My son is a little

ray of sunshine. His favorite TV show is Monk, because Monk acts so

much like his sister. He can laugh at Monk without getting in trouble!

Thanks for listening.

Ramona