Thanks for info

September 2, 2009

Thanks , BJ, and for responding. I'll have to look into inositol. I

never heard of it before, and I appreciate the book recommendations. I've heard

of Talking Back to OCD. Our little local library had nothing. I'll have to

order off Amazon. I found out our small town has a psychologist that takes our

insurance. I don't know how good she is. There is a center in Austin specially

for the treatment of OCD but it doesn't take Chip. There's no way I could

afford to pay cash. Too bad because it sounds great.

My husband says therapy would be wasting my time. He points out how awful our

son was after we stuck him back into public school after two years of

homeschooling. (This was fourth grade) He didn't want to go back to public

school even though he never had any issues with school except for being slow to

finish his work (he writes very slow). He had to be put into the car kicking and

screaming to go to school, be pulled out of the car while he grabbed onto the

door, left on the school curb hunched into a ball crying for the school

counselor to walk him to class, he walked around all day at school with one hand

over his forehead to cover a haircut he didn't like (to cut his long hair was

recommended by the school counselor- bad idea, really bad), didn't eat lunch at

school because he only used one hand (other hand busy covering hair), ran across

the room one day at home and ran right through a glass window (luckily did not

get even a scratch- god knows how!), screamed for hours on a daily basis (mostly

at night- also banged things for long periods of time), refused to do any school

work, lost all sense of humor and his smile, and acted so weird in public (like

refusing to walk all of a sudden in the store or hiding somewhere and refusing

to come out) that strangers came up to me to ask if he was okay. Three awful

therapy sessions that did nothing led me to give up early getting help. My

husband and I just waited (plus pulled him out of school and started

homeschooling again) and he slowly got better. Two years later the only bad

symptom that remains is his anxiety in large crowds and talking to new people-

which is also slowly improving. I mentioned all this because I see some posts

that sound like my son was and I want to give hope. I never thought he would

turn around like that.

My middle daughter's germ phobia caught me off guard. She was the social one

with no anxiety making friends. I thought she was not going to have any anxiety

related problems. Sigh.

My oldest daughter has social anxiety- she can talk but usually refuses in

public to strangers. She's also an amazing artist and very talented. I accept

her quirkiness as part of her. Her germ phobia is minor and doesn't interrupt

her daily life.

I am still up in the air what do do. Remembering my son, do nothing but wait

may work. But everyone is different. She may need more. My husband is so sure

she pull out of this I am tempted to just wait a little longer. She's only been

really bad the last couple months- it was gradually building. I hope it's

peaked because if it gets to where she can't leave the bathroom ignoring it is

not going to work no matter what my husband thinks. I definitely appreciate all

the posts here and am going to get some books this week. Anyone else have

spouse's that have different interpretations of what to do?

Sherrie

September 2, 2009

Sherrie,

My husband and I definitely have different interpretations of dd OCD. It just

doesn't bother him the way it bothers me. I hate it! I react to it. I've done a

lot better but it's me pushing her to do more and boss back and read books, and

do OCD homework...

Just to clarify, OCD is genetic. Guess which parent she inherited from.

The highly anxious one.

in Utah

September 3, 2009

Sherrie:

I live in Austin. I have tried several therapists here, including the OCD

Center. The person there who works with children did not do well with my son on

his first visit and he refused to go back (and I could see his point). Other

therapists said they had experience with OCD and children, yet didn't use the

ERP therapy. My son is working with someone now, who is patient and at least

experienced in ERP therapy and kids. Maybe since you found someone in your own

town who accepts your insurance, you could bring him/her a couple of books you

buy from Amazon and request they read them. My son's therapist is using the

workbook What to Do When Your Brain Gets Stuck, even though he is 13 and clearly

the book is geared to younger kids. He has him make lists, do OCD challenges

homework and works with an exposure in his office every week. He also has him

give himself positive messages like " I am Strong " while challenging OCD. The

information is all in the books, if the therapist is open to learning. You could

even do it yourself, but my son works better with someone outside the family. He

is taking Luvox only because he cannot fight OCD without this help. It was a

last resort, but has really saved him. So many on this list have helped me and

will help you. Hang in there. There was a time I felt my son would never get

better, he was going downhill so fast.

September 3, 2009

My husband wanted to ignore it and hope for it to go away too. That was until

our son's OCD caused him to do something that annoyed my husband, then he would

yell at him. I didn't realize at the time that my husband and his whole family

had OCD too, until I started learning about it, then it was so evident. I knew

they were all a bit quirky, but didn't know what I was seeing until I educated

myself. Then while speaking to more than one therapist and explaining he and

his family's behaviors (hoarding, germaphobic, controlling of their

environment), they all agreed that they showed signs of OCD.

Sometimes ignoring it and waiting can help, because of the waxing and waning of

OCD. But, chances are, it will come back in the future, sometimes manifesting

itself in a different way. Or, the other possibility is that it can get worse.

Not trying to scare you at all, just have personally been there. We didn't know

it was OCD at first, but neither did some of the therapists we took him to, so

nobody seemed to know what to do. At that time in his life, we tried to just

give him time to work it out, but instead he got much worse. He was having

bathroom related OCD problems that spiraled out of control and took over our

lives, for years. I'd never heard of CBT/ERP back then, so got desperate enough

to try meds. Amazingly, they helped.

If it were me, Sherrie, I would pursue CBT/ERP therapy. If what your son is

experiencing is mild, then you can address it before it gets worse, and most

likely will not need the assist of meds. And it would give him the tools he

needs to address anything that pops up in the future. With ERP, they learn to

recognize " what " is OCD, then work on it, immediately, so it cannot grow out of

control. They fashion it to whatever the OCD is doing, at that time.

Since you were intending to get some of the books. I would read them, see what

you think, and maybe even try some ERP at home, if he is willing. We tried that

first, because I struggled to find a qualified therapist (took me 3 months), but

our son was too severe at that point. His OCD was all over the place. We would

try addressing one thing and the OCD would morph to approaching the issue from

another point of view. It was so interesting and amazing to watch his therapist

adapt his ERP to combat the OCD. Our son was a willing participant because his

OCD was so bad, at that point, that he was fighting for his very life. It

worked for him. I hope you find some relief for your family too.

Hugs and prayers,

BJ

-- In , " teachginger " wrote:

>

> Thanks , BJ, and for responding. I'll have to look into inositol.

I never heard of it before, and I appreciate the book recommendations. I've

heard of Talking Back to OCD. Our little local library had nothing. I'll have

to order off Amazon. I found out our small town has a psychologist that takes

our insurance. I don't know how good she is. There is a center in Austin

specially for the treatment of OCD but it doesn't take Chip. There's no way I

could afford to pay cash. Too bad because it sounds great.

> My husband says therapy would be wasting my time. He points out how awful our