Re: Jumping

[Guest guest]

Hi Eliza, Does your son have any rules to his jumping, eg. number of times,

sequence, pattern etc? If he he seems to think it's a compulsion, but

can't name a trigger, it might be a " just right " kind of compulsion--an urge

for completeness, symmetry, just a nebulous need to feel right. This is not

uncommon in younger boys with OCD, esp those with comorbid TS. From what

you've written--your son has many tic-like compulsions--I suspect that he

might have these urges. It can be hard to tell tics and compulsion apart at

times.

If so, I would still try E/RP, with the focus on waiting for the urge to

pass. If he has rules to follow for the jumping, I would suggest changing

or breaking the rules, eg, jump the wrong number of times, the wrong

pattern, or not jump at all. Instead, go do something fun while the urge

passes. And it will pass, if you wait long enough. This is how I treated

the little boy with the jumping compulsion--he had to jump just before he

threw a ball, but didn't know why except that he HAD to, and he found that

he could throw the ball without jumping and nothing bad happened.

Let me know if this is something that makes sense in your case (since I

know very little about your son's situation), and how this goes, if you

decide to try it.

Good luck,

Aureen P. Wagner, Ph.D.

Re: Re: Spitting

> aUREEN-

>

> My son, Joe, also has the urge to jump up and down. We have been

trying

> to figure out if it was a tic or a compulsion. We know he has OCD, but

many

> of his compulsions are tic like. Joe seems to think it is a compulsion

but

> can't say just what triggers it. We haven't come up with a good cbt

method

> of treating it. His therapist has suggested habit reversal techniques but

> it just isn't working. How did you help this child that you refer to in

> your note? Thanks, Eliza in WI

>

>