show on children with OCD

[Guest guest]

Dear Ms.Olson,

I have just the child you are looking for! Tom has severe OCD and MDD

(major depressive disorder) He has become increasingly aggressive as

adolescents has moved in - to the point where he beats us?

Do you really think that your audience should be subjected to witnessing

this kind of abuse?? Do you think it would be percieved as revictimising the

victim?

Tom hates being out of control. He begs the doctors to help him control

his ocd symptoms, but, being 16 he has no vote and therefore the gov't does

not prioritise him for services. The local children's hospital will not

treat him except with medication. Would you want to be doped because a

bureaucrat wont provide you with therapy?

Lets be more realistic, wouldn't this make a more honest show for you to

consider.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder has nothing to do with violence. Its

impulse control that is the issue. The person with untreated OCD will do

anything in order to achieve their compulsions. Every ocd'er that I know

will say the same thing - their anger is connected to their inability to

control their ocd. Its frustration. Once they have learned to control their

anger, controlling their ocd compliments this action. Tom has completed an

anger management program and has been prescribed different medications which

still make him sleepy, but help him to concentrate. Finally after 1 year, he

is being treated by a trained psychologist in cognitive behavioral therapy,

using the exposure and response prevention method.

This story has another part:

Tom's 2 sisters, 14 and 10, also have OCD and MDD. Can you imagine what

goes on here?? The kids can set each other off, can be suicidal at the same

time, can be having meltdowns day and night. Well, Guess what? This is not

the case anymore. You see as a social worker I accessed the system and

learned what it would take to provide my children with the best care. I

believe I did this by participating in the Behavioral Institutes " Cognitive

Behavioural Therapy for OCD using the Exposure and Response Prevention

Method " . We constantly do exposure therapy. The kids know that first they

will feel excessive anxiety, but they are in control and can 'boss back'

their OCD!

An example is when tom believed there could be a mouse in his boot. He

asked me to check it for him. I cant do that, it would be enabling. He asked

his father what to do. Dad suggested he shake it upside down. Tom was

definitely nervous at this point, sweating, eyes wide, but he tried that -

of course nothing fell out. A year ago, he would have thrown his boot at

this point, preferably at one of us. But instead, Tom broke into a

mischievous smile - roared and rammed his foot into the boot. Have you any

idea how much courage it took to do that??

This is the kind of show people should see. They should understand that

these kids can become incapacitated with fear - not rage. This is a

neurobiological disorder, and by equating it with anger, your show could be

quite destructive to other parents/guardians with children who are raging,

not to mention having any ocd symptoms. It would be a much more productive

show to demonstrate how to conduct ERP and let the kids show you how well

they do!

I sincerely hope that you will reconsider the format of your intended show.

I would believe that ratings are important, but that honesty is also crucial

to a successful show.

If you are interested in more information on the Exposure and Response

Prevention Method of Treatment, please contact me. It would be my pleasure

to assist you.

wendy birkhan,

youth and family counsellor, monitor: list,

advocate, mom and wife.

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