PCA let me in on a secret

[flutterby]

difficult child worked with PCA on school work until really late. At one point, difficult child took a break and took a shower.

I sat down and was talking with PCA and she asked me if I knew that difficult child has some Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). My response? No way. I mean, I know easy child has some Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) quirks - nothing that negatively impacts his life...just quirky...and kinda funny. But, I've never seen it in difficult child.

PCA then took the cap off a pen and set them both down on the table and said, "Wait until she comes back in." Apparently, difficult child can't stand to have things that are out of place or not closed. Again, I said, "No way! Have you seen her room???" She insisted.

So, I also opened up difficult child's phone, unclipped the barrette that was on the table and took the cover off her calculator.

Sure enough, first thing difficult child noticed when she walked in the room is that her phone was open and she went right over and closed it. PCA and I didn't say anything. PCA went on with the school work and difficult child reached over and put the cap back on the pen, then immediately picked up the barrette to fasten it.



At that point, difficult child was onto us and she was able to laugh with us. I was just so shocked. I have never noticed that in her. Obviously, it's just quirky Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) stuff and we all have it to some extent. But, it was distracting enough that she couldn't do her school work until it was done.

Interesting.

 

[Wiped Out]

Heather,
It is interesting, we know our easy child also has some Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) traits, again more along the quirky side but very distracting for her at points.

 

[Josie]

Heather,

That is interesting. Your daughter reminds me of my younger one in her behaviour. My daughter has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Once we became aware of it, we could see it in so many things she did.

My daughter has mostly the Obsessive part. Once she gets a thought in her head, sometimes she just can't get rid of it.

In an effort to get rid of some of her medications, we tried to d/c her very small dose of Lexapro. On the second day, she was obsessing over how much she hated her sister. All difficult child 1 had done was call her stupid in an exchange they were having. difficult child 2 had said something equally insulting. She didn't do this when she was on her Lexapro. If I didn't know about her Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), I would probably just think she was overreacting and not realize why,

Your daughter's relentless complaining, etc. to you, (doesn't she follow you to your room and continue through a closed door?) might be explained by this.

There is a great book called "What to Do When Your Child has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)" by Aureen Pinto Wagner.

 

[crazymama30]

Wow. Interesting. Sometimes we get so used to stuff, their "quirkiness" that we just forget it

 

[susiestar]

Now that you know about it you should talk to her doctor about it. I have a feeling you will learn it creates bigger problems for her than you realize.

Wiz has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). He gets really fixated on something, usually related to monsters, dungeons and dragons, or Magic the Gathering. When he starts to change to another fixation he is always SHOCKED by the amount of money he poured into it. Right now he has THOUSANDS of dollars invested in Magic. He needs a car and if he hadn't poured every possible cent he could scrounge or earn into it he could buy a nice one outright.

There are a LOT of ways to cope with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). medications are only one of them. SSRI's are often used. The dosage for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) treatment is usually higher than the dosage for depression. There are a lot of other treatments also.

Please don't just assume it is not interfering with her life. Does the person near her with the cap off of his pen drive her nuts? How about the kid in the grocery cart with the barrette that is falling out? Is that a problem for her?

Just some food for thought.

 

[flutterby]

I am going to talk to therapist about it. I have an appointment with her Wed.

Hope, I'm going to talk to therapist about the obsessive thinking with this, too. Because she does get stuck on something and there is no getting around it - or even through it for that matter.

Thank you all for your input. Definitely things to think about since her anxiety is so high a lot of the time, lately.