Silent symptoms scream loudly don't they?!!!! It is easier to notice things aren't quite right when kids are throwing fits and fighting. When they're quietly struggling they don't get attention as quickly because it is harder to notice. OCD can be like that sometimes...it masks as a mumble, an erase, a delay but it shows itself as a re-read passage that took hours to complete, an anxiety that stops fun activities paralyzing the next move without the compulsion to move on - we can stop compulsions sometimes but not the obsessions, a rephrased answer to a question without any firm commitments to opinions or preferences, a small shrug away from sometime normal - ex. picking up a nail on the floor was a big deal because we don't like touching sharp objects and were very anxious about it! okay, you and I don't want to get stabbed by a nail but the simple transportation of that nail from floor-to hand-to drawer even if it poked us accidentally on the way wouldn't phase us...silent, sneaky OCD builds unnecessary worry about touching that nail and a strong dislike for "sharp" objects - forget about the knife to cut dinner, the scissors to play or the paper cutter - include the razor in the bathroom a pointy nail - now there's danger - but not really right?!
Maintaining a right-idea about what OCD is and isn't is so important in properly addressing its bully behaviors. My Nora NEVER cleans dishes repeatedly, doesn't spend time locking and unlocking doors before she leaves the house but she did line up her stuffies on her bed (but that was to avoid the reading and essay work she DOES use OCD avoidance behaviors about) And at least at our house, these obsessions have themes but neither they or the compulsions follow a set pattern - unless avoidance is in the mix.
We recently started scaling up a medicine regimin and her reactions have been varied but improving - almost like we're peeling back the layers on the symptoms and will leave the core of her illness underneath, but we shall see!
This week's homework, showering for 20 minutes EVERY DAY - but here's the trickiest part, RECORDING it!!
Sometimes I think there isn't much to say, but maybe that is just as much part of her story! And other days there is SO much to say but for her sake I am trying to leave out the outbursts!
More soon!
Here's an article about common OCD myths...it helps clear up some of our common ideas about OCD - you know, from movies and our cultural notions!
http://www.mastersinhealthcare.net/blog/2010/10-common-myths-about-obsessive-compulsive-disorder/
