suicidal ideation

[Guest guest]

Hi. I'm new to the group but definitely not new to OCD. My 11 y/o daughter and

I both have OCD. I will try to give a short version of my daughter's life. She

was born 6 weeks early and NEVER slept! She didn't start sleeping through

the night until she was around 6 y/o. When she was 18 mo. old, the pediatrician

sent her to a neurologist because she would bang her head with her fist all the

time. She was concerned about autism. Neurologist said it wasn't autism. When

she was 5 y/o, a new pediatrician was concerned with autism and cerebral palsy.

So, off we went to the neurologist again. The neurologist had her walk down the

hall so he could evaluate how she walked on her toes and that was it! She was

given a diagnosis of mild cerebral palsy due to some developmental delays when

she was a baby, problems with fine motor skills, and toe walking. My daughter

was still having severe separation anxiety at age 6 so the pediatrician

mentioned high functioning autism again. We moved to another state soon after

and no one ever suggested autism again. When she was 7, she started having

fears that she would try to hurt me or the pets. She does not want to hurt me

or the pets though....it is just a fear. Then, she started having feelings that

she wanted to " scrape " herself, but she never tried. She also had feelings of

being in a box. I took her to a few different therapists but we were always

brushed off. So, I thought that there wasn't anything to be concerned with.

Now my daughter is 11 y/o and things are much worse. She still has severe

anxiety about being away from me. She is terrified that something will happen

to me. She has had lots of mild panic attacks and a few that were a little

scary for both of us. She has some of the typical OCD symptoms, such as, she

has to touch both sides of things, she likes even numbers, fear of germs and

getting sick, etc. She was diagnosed with OCD a few years ago but was never

treated for it. A few months ago, she started having obsessive thoughts of " why

bother doing things because it will be over soon anyways. " These thoughts

include everything from getting new toys or clothes to eating. She said that

she is so tired of not being able to enjoy anything because of these thoughts.

Surprisingly, she says that she is happy...and, she acts like she is happy. I

took her to her pediatrician about 4 weeks ago to ask for a referral to a

therapist. A couple of days later, my daughter told me that she thought that

she tried to kill herself in the tub and she was really scared because she

didn't want to die. I called the pediatrician and he told me to take her to a

children's hospital in a nearby city because they have a pediatric pychiatric

center there. They said they thought that the suicidal thoughts were coming

from her OCD and they started her on zoloft. She has also started therapy with

them. I'm so confused! My instinct tells me that something else is going on.

Has anyone else experienced any of these things? Sorry about all of the

information!

[Guest guest]

Does sound like OCD and not necessarily suicidal ideation. However, I would be

concerned about depression and so I think you should be careful to assess that

often (in terms of how she functions in school and at home and her overall mood

and planning for the future). Suicidal thoughts can come about with depression

and sudden lifting of the mood might indicate that there is a plan in mind.

Bonnie

>

> Hi. I'm new to the group but definitely not new to OCD. My 11 y/o daughter

and I both have OCD. I will try to give a short version of my daughter's life.

She was born 6 weeks early and NEVER slept! She didn't start sleeping

through the night until she was around 6 y/o. When she was 18 mo. old, the

pediatrician sent her to a neurologist because she would bang her head with her

fist all the time. She was concerned about autism. Neurologist said it wasn't

autism. When she was 5 y/o, a new pediatrician was concerned with autism and

cerebral palsy. So, off we went to the neurologist again. The neurologist had

her walk down the hall so he could evaluate how she walked on her toes and that

was it! She was given a diagnosis of mild cerebral palsy due to some

developmental delays when she was a baby, problems with fine motor skills, and

toe walking. My daughter was still having severe separation anxiety at age 6 so

the pediatrician mentioned high functioning autism again. We moved to another

state soon after and no one ever suggested autism again. When she was 7, she

started having fears that she would try to hurt me or the pets. She does not

want to hurt me or the pets though....it is just a fear. Then, she started

having feelings that she wanted to " scrape " herself, but she never tried. She

also had feelings of being in a box. I took her to a few different therapists

but we were always brushed off. So, I thought that there wasn't anything to be

concerned with. Now my daughter is 11 y/o and things are much worse. She still

has severe anxiety about being away from me. She is terrified that something

will happen to me. She has had lots of mild panic attacks and a few that were a

little scary for both of us. She has some of the typical OCD symptoms, such as,

she has to touch both sides of things, she likes even numbers, fear of germs and

getting sick, etc. She was diagnosed with OCD a few years ago but was never

treated for it. A few months ago, she started having obsessive thoughts of " why

bother doing things because it will be over soon anyways. " These thoughts

include everything from getting new toys or clothes to eating. She said that

she is so tired of not being able to enjoy anything because of these thoughts.

Surprisingly, she says that she is happy...and, she acts like she is happy. I

took her to her pediatrician about 4 weeks ago to ask for a referral to a

therapist. A couple of days later, my daughter told me that she thought that

she tried to kill herself in the tub and she was really scared because she

didn't want to die. I called the pediatrician and he told me to take her to a

children's hospital in a nearby city because they have a pediatric pychiatric

center there. They said they thought that the suicidal thoughts were coming

from her OCD and they started her on zoloft. She has also started therapy with

them. I'm so confused! My instinct tells me that something else is going on.

Has anyone else experienced any of these things? Sorry about all of the

information!

>

[Guest guest]

I am so glad you are finally getting the OCD treated. We had

similar issues with professionals being confused with

her DX. Some kids don't fit neatly under autism or asperger

syndrome but have such a mix of motor skill issues, sensory

integration issues, executive function issues that autism spectrum

makes the most sense.

We had a neuropschological test done at age 9 years old. Wow the

information we got was so concrete. The neurologist MD had

said she was OCD only where the neuropyschologist said

it was a set of problems best called Asperger. Not that

it was Asperger Syndrome but it fit this best. Because she

had so many development issues going on.

Your daughter too has many issues. And perhaps she is not autistic. But her

issues are broad.

Some people are able to get the school district to pay for a

neuropsch test by saying they suspect a non reading learning

disability (non verbal learning disability) or autism.

Some people are able to get their insurance to pay for some of it.

It is a long test we asked it be done once a week for 3-4 hours

rather than all in one week (which I thought was too much stress).

Some kids with medical issues (like mild cerebal plasy) have

these non verbal learning disorders. And their worlds

are very confusing. They often have OCD traits.

Testing will not solve the problems but it will identify if there are any issues

that make school very stressful.

I think it is helpful to have this done at least once.

Pam

Pam

>

> Hi. I'm new to the group but definitely not new to OCD. My 11 y/o daughter

and I both have OCD. I will try to give a short version of my daughter's life.

She was born 6 weeks early and NEVER slept! She didn't start sleeping

through the night until she was around 6 y/o. When she was 18 mo. old, the

pediatrician sent her to a neurologist because she would bang her head with her

fist all the time. She was concerned about autism. Neurologist said it wasn't

autism. When she was 5 y/o, a new pediatrician was concerned with autism and

cerebral palsy. So, off we went to the neurologist again. The neurologist had

her walk down the hall so he could evaluate how she walked on her toes and that

was it! She was given a diagnosis of mild cerebral palsy due to some

developmental delays when she was a baby, problems with fine motor skills, and

toe walking. My daughter was still having severe separation anxiety at age 6 so

the pediatrician mentioned high functioning autism again. We moved to another

state soon after and no one ever suggested autism again. When she was 7, she

started having fears that she would try to hurt me or the pets. She does not

want to hurt me or the pets though....it is just a fear. Then, she started

having feelings that she wanted to " scrape " herself, but she never tried. She

also had feelings of being in a box. I took her to a few different therapists

but we were always brushed off. So, I thought that there wasn't anything to be

concerned with. Now my daughter is 11 y/o and things are much worse. She still

has severe anxiety about being away from me. She is terrified that something

will happen to me. She has had lots of mild panic attacks and a few that were a

little scary for both of us. She has some of the typical OCD symptoms, such as,

she has to touch both sides of things, she likes even numbers, fear of germs and

getting sick, etc. She was diagnosed with OCD a few years ago but was never

treated for it. A few months ago, she started having obsessive thoughts of " why

bother doing things because it will be over soon anyways. " These thoughts

include everything from getting new toys or clothes to eating. She said that

she is so tired of not being able to enjoy anything because of these thoughts.

Surprisingly, she says that she is happy...and, she acts like she is happy. I

took her to her pediatrician about 4 weeks ago to ask for a referral to a

therapist. A couple of days later, my daughter told me that she thought that

she tried to kill herself in the tub and she was really scared because she

didn't want to die. I called the pediatrician and he told me to take her to a

children's hospital in a nearby city because they have a pediatric pychiatric

center there. They said they thought that the suicidal thoughts were coming

from her OCD and they started her on zoloft. She has also started therapy with

them. I'm so confused! My instinct tells me that something else is going on.

Has anyone else experienced any of these things? Sorry about all of the

information!

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks so much to everyone that replied! It is so nice to know that you're not

alone. She goes back to the psychiatrist on December 2. I'm hoping I can get

some more answers then. Thanks again! It was such a relief to read other posts

and know that I'm not crazy!

>

> Hi. I'm new to the group but definitely not new to OCD. My 11 y/o daughter

and I both have OCD. I will try to give a short version of my daughter's life.

She was born 6 weeks early and NEVER slept! She didn't start sleeping

through the night until she was around 6 y/o. When she was 18 mo. old, the

pediatrician sent her to a neurologist because she would bang her head with her

fist all the time. She was concerned about autism. Neurologist said it wasn't

autism. When she was 5 y/o, a new pediatrician was concerned with autism and

cerebral palsy. So, off we went to the neurologist again. The neurologist had

her walk down the hall so he could evaluate how she walked on her toes and that

was it! She was given a diagnosis of mild cerebral palsy due to some

developmental delays when she was a baby, problems with fine motor skills, and

toe walking. My daughter was still having severe separation anxiety at age 6 so

the pediatrician mentioned high functioning autism again. We moved to another

state soon after and no one ever suggested autism again. When she was 7, she

started having fears that she would try to hurt me or the pets. She does not

want to hurt me or the pets though....it is just a fear. Then, she started

having feelings that she wanted to " scrape " herself, but she never tried. She

also had feelings of being in a box. I took her to a few different therapists

but we were always brushed off. So, I thought that there wasn't anything to be

concerned with. Now my daughter is 11 y/o and things are much worse. She still

has severe anxiety about being away from me. She is terrified that something

will happen to me. She has had lots of mild panic attacks and a few that were a

little scary for both of us. She has some of the typical OCD symptoms, such as,

she has to touch both sides of things, she likes even numbers, fear of germs and

getting sick, etc. She was diagnosed with OCD a few years ago but was never

treated for it. A few months ago, she started having obsessive thoughts of " why

bother doing things because it will be over soon anyways. " These thoughts

include everything from getting new toys or clothes to eating. She said that

she is so tired of not being able to enjoy anything because of these thoughts.

Surprisingly, she says that she is happy...and, she acts like she is happy. I

took her to her pediatrician about 4 weeks ago to ask for a referral to a

therapist. A couple of days later, my daughter told me that she thought that

she tried to kill herself in the tub and she was really scared because she

didn't want to die. I called the pediatrician and he told me to take her to a

children's hospital in a nearby city because they have a pediatric pychiatric

center there. They said they thought that the suicidal thoughts were coming

from her OCD and they started her on zoloft. She has also started therapy with

them. I'm so confused! My instinct tells me that something else is going on.

Has anyone else experienced any of these things? Sorry about all of the

information!

>