Ask Dr. Geller

[Guest guest]

My 14 yo has OCD, I also have a 4 yo and am starting to really think she also

has OCD. How can you tell with a child of this age whether it's OCD or just a

picky/testy preschooler?

A few brief examples:

For about a year she's been picky about cups, must have a coozy, direction of

the coozy

must have the same pillow case all the time

Very picky about her clothing, matching etc, can take an hour to get dressed -

same with her hair some days, she gets angry if its not right

Very touchy when drawing, if it's not exactly just so she gets very frustrated,

screams etc

Today was a little more extreme. She touched the kitchen counter and insisted

her hands were dirty and she had to wash them, I assured her I had just cleaned

it, I even licked it, she still had to wash

Then dinner time was very extreme, she had to have a specific spoon but kept

wanting to wash it and dry it over and over, it wasnt right, she got so out of

control she was hitting, screaming, etc - she was hungry but would not eat until

the spoon was right this took about an hour

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Melinda Barkstrom

[Guest guest]

My dd was not adopted and has always been the same way. I have wondered if she

has suffered some type of trauma I don't know about.

Hugs

judy

________________________________

To:

Sent: Thu, October 21, 2010 10:02:21 AM

Subject: Re: Ask Dr. Geller

 

I wish I had the answer for you.  All I know is that I've wondered the same

thing concerning my son.  I had a very bad, explosive marriage when Austin was

born. He screamed day and night, suffered from collic, bad digestion, and was

and has always been fearful of other people and social situations.  I really

wonder if early life trauma had something to do with it. 

Subject: Re: Ask Dr. Geller

To:

Date: Thursday, October 21, 2010, 9:40 AM

 

Can trauma from being adopted at 18 months of age have caused the OCD?

I've heard and read that trauma early in life can set the stage for OCD.

My question is this: I adopted my daughter from China when she was 18

months old. She was extremely traumatized at the time of the adoption, all

she did was scream and sleep and eat. She was almost catatonic when I

brought her home. I am single so, unfortuantely, I had to work so she was

put in a wonderful preschool with her sister (also adopted from China and

two years older than her.) When I picked her up from school in the

afternoon, she would be in the same spot as she was when I left her in the

morning. The teachers were very sweet and tried to get her to lay down for

a nap, etc. Fortunately, she became comfortable as time went on. I'd say

it took a couple of months for her to feel comfortable.

Could the trauma of the adoption have caused the OCD?

--

M. , RPR, CLR, FPR, CMRS

Reporting Service, Inc.

1101 Channelside Drive, Suite 261

Tampa, Florida 33602

Telephone:

Fax:

Cell:

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Administration email: clarkrptg@...

Personal email: cindy@... or cindy.clarkreporting@...

[Guest guest]

Hi, I sent your message to Dr. Geller. I will post his answer when I receive

it.

Co-Moderator

>

> My 16 year old daughter was diagnosed with ocd 2 years ago(although looking

back I am sure she has had it since childhood) She currently takes 150 mg of

zoloft daily. She saw a psychologist twice a week for 5 months about a year ago.

He said he had to move slowly and couldn't tell her ways to deal with this too

soon. So after five months the only coping skill she had been told was to count

backwards whenever she had an unwanted thought. I was driving 200 miles round

trip to get her to the psychlogist. My husband and I decided to stop her

therapy. My daughter is extremely shy and wasn't communicating well with the

psychologist. My daughter was born 14 weeks premature and has mild cp. She has

always been able to walk on her own. She just has tightness on her right side

which makes her gait seem a bit bouncy instead of fluid. I bagan homeschooling

my daughter when she started 6th grade. While in public school she did extremely

well and although very quiet at school she was always at the top of her class.

My daughter constantly asks me the same question all day long(even though I have

answered her numerous times and she knows what I am going to say)She says when

she gets a thought she has to ask me the question for it to go away. She only

does this repeating and question asking to me(not my husband). Should I refuse

to answer her over and over? Will this help? She becomes very upset when I don't

answer.

>