Daughter OCD Hair Fixation - Help

July 12, 2006

Hey all,

I'm new to this site - just found this last night. I have a 10 year old

daughter who has shown prior OCD tendencies in the past (e.g. yawning wide

repeatedly). For the past six months, she has been developing a fixation to

keep redoing her ponytail. It's gotten to the point this past week, that we

almost couldn't get her out of the house to summer camp and other activities as

she said her hair has " bumps " and needs to redo her ponytail. She says she

can't stop doing this. Before this week, this would happen sporadically.

I have taken her to a child psychologist for the past six months and felt this

professional did not recognize OCD or understand the symptoms based on her

comments to my daughter during the sessions (e.g. - " just allow her more time to

get her hair done as she likes it " ).

On the " OCD site " I did find a referral list of psychologists who specialize in

OCD in the Phoenix area and will contact them. I have a few questions for the

group that hopefully you can help me:

1. Has anyone in the group seen a Phoenix area psychologist and would you

recommend him or her?

2. Has anyone tried hypnotherapy to help your child reduce or eliminate

obsessive/compulsive behavior?

3. Has anyone experienced this type of OCD behavior with their child and what

strategies did you use to help calm your child down?

I have also ordered several books on OCD off Amazon including a workbook which

is a step program for children with OCD.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

Ali

July 12, 2006

Ali,

Hi, and welcome to this great group! I'd never be able to handle it without

these people.

I'm not from the Phoenix area, so I can't help with any of those questions.

I have a 9yr old daughter with ocd who sounds very similar to your daughter.

She always has to have her hair done just right with " no bumps " either, and is

very particular with her clothing, weight, etc, etc. She has other obsessions

also, like counting syllables in her head, vomitting, arranging things just

right, touching her face over and over,etc.

For my daughter the only help I have found is unfortunately through

medication. My daughter just would not respond to any type of therapy. There

are others on this site whose children are not on meds and could possibly have

suggestions for you.

Take care

(((Hugs)))

Judy

July 12, 2006

ahush wrote:

>

> Hey all,

>

> I'm new to this site - just found this last night. I have a 10 year

> old daughter who has shown prior OCD tendencies in the past (e.g.

> yawning wide repeatedly). For the past six months, she has been

> developing a fixation to keep redoing her ponytail. It's gotten to the

> point this past week, that we almost couldn't get her out of the house

> to summer camp and other activities as she said her hair has " bumps "

> and needs to redo her ponytail. She says she can't stop doing this.

> Before this week, this would happen sporadically.

>

My daughter went through a phase of about 4-6 of this. She's in ballet

3 times a week and needs her hair in a bun and it was torturous! She

was better, although still critical, if I did it, but couldn't get out

of the bathroom if she did it. With medication, that went away as well.

Dina

July 13, 2006

Oh my gosh -- my daughter did this, using the same words, starting

when she was about 5 or 6. It started out by having to have her hair

fixed (by me) only one way -- ponytail on top of her head --

everyday. Then, it turned into an OCD thing. She would say there

were still " bumps " or it was " popping up. " She would spend at least

45 minutes trying to get it " right, " all the while frantic, in

tears, yelling at me, alternating between wanting me to help or

sending me away. There was nothing I could do, or not do, that would

calm her down. We did about a half a year of ballet that was torture

mostly because of this -- the teacher was stunned that I didn't sign

her up again as she was doing so well in class and she had NO IDEA

of the struggle we went through each time to get her to class.

I'm sorry I don't have any good advice for you, but it sounds like

you're doing all the right things! I'd definitely move on from the

psych. who doesn't seem to understand! We wasted years on pdocs such

as that, thinking that they knew more than we did, but that just

wasn't the case and we wasted precious time. Good luck to you!

>

> Hey all,

>

> I'm new to this site - just found this last night. I have a 10

year old daughter who has shown prior OCD tendencies in the past

(e.g. yawning wide repeatedly). For the past six months, she has

been developing a fixation to keep redoing her ponytail. It's

gotten to the point this past week, that we almost couldn't get her

out of the house to summer camp and other activities as she said her

hair has " bumps " and needs to redo her ponytail. She says she can't

stop doing this. Before this week, this would happen sporadically.

>

> I have taken her to a child psychologist for the past six months

and felt this professional did not recognize OCD or understand the

symptoms based on her comments to my daughter during the sessions

(e.g. - " just allow her more time to get her hair done as she likes

it " ).

>

> On the " OCD site " I did find a referral list of psychologists who

specialize in OCD in the Phoenix area and will contact them. I have

a few questions for the group that hopefully you can help me:

>

> 1. Has anyone in the group seen a Phoenix area psychologist and

would you recommend him or her?

>

> 2. Has anyone tried hypnotherapy to help your child reduce or

eliminate obsessive/compulsive behavior?

>

> 3. Has anyone experienced this type of OCD behavior with their

child and what strategies did you use to help calm your child down?

>

> I have also ordered several books on OCD off Amazon including a

workbook which is a step program for children with OCD.

>

> Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

>

> Ali

>

July 13, 2006

Hi, we have struggled with the hair issue for at least a year. My 9 yr old

could not have the wind blow it, or an air conditioner in the car as it might

get messy. She fussed that the ponytails were not right or not tight enough

etc. We would be late for school a lot and she would show up in tears over her

hair. It was so frustrating. The psychologist did Cognitive behavioral

therapy with her and he made her have a messy ponytail and walk out in public.

He

had us put different hair styles written on paper in a jar and she had to pick

one to wear each day and she had to make a booklet of her hair styles. She

had a certain amt. of time to have her hair done and if it wasn't right by

then, it was too bad and she had to wear it the way it was. She had to draw

herself with messy hair. She had a very hard time with this and it got worse

before it got better but now she is not obsessed about her hair , doesn't have

to

wet it down before she goes out and can have the wind blow it. She can still

get frustrated if the pony tail is not perfect feeling but I do it 3 times

and then I walk away if it is not right. It took the psychologist initiating

the program for the hair and she had to be accountable to him. It takes the

responsibility away from me being the bad guy. You need to find a DR. who does

CBT and ERP(exposure response prevention) therapy. Good luck. Sue

July 13, 2006

Hi Ali,

I agree 100% with Sue's response. We've had hair issues in the past,

not exactly like yours, but with (9) it was combing over and

over til it was " right " . She used to like ponytails, clips, etc, but

now then she started to play with the ponytail all day, making sure

it's still there, tight enough, etc, so she finally refused to put

anything in her hair. Then she was to be in a parade for baton

twirling and the teacher said they all had to wear their hair in

ponytails if it was longish. SO she got her hair cut in the shortest

bob one day before the parade!

CBT and ERP will work wonders for this, we just never worked on it

with because we had so many other things that I decided were

more important and hindering her life. Pick your battles type of thing...

nna.

NY

>

> Hey all,

>

> I'm new to this site - just found this last night. I have a 10 year

old daughter who has shown prior OCD tendencies in the past (e.g.

yawning wide repeatedly). For the past six months, she has been

developing a fixation to keep redoing her ponytail. It's gotten to

the point this past week, that we almost couldn't get her out of the

house to summer camp and other activities as she said her hair has

" bumps " and needs to redo her ponytail. She says she can't stop doing

this. Before this week, this would happen sporadically.

>

> I have taken her to a child psychologist for the past six months and

felt this professional did not recognize OCD or understand the

symptoms based on her comments to my daughter during the sessions

(e.g. - " just allow her more time to get her hair done as she likes it " ).

>

> On the " OCD site " I did find a referral list of psychologists who

specialize in OCD in the Phoenix area and will contact them. I have a

few questions for the group that hopefully you can help me:

>

> 1. Has anyone in the group seen a Phoenix area psychologist and

would you recommend him or her?

>

> 2. Has anyone tried hypnotherapy to help your child reduce or

eliminate obsessive/compulsive behavior?

>

> 3. Has anyone experienced this type of OCD behavior with their

child and what strategies did you use to help calm your child down?

>

> I have also ordered several books on OCD off Amazon including a

workbook which is a step program for children with OCD.

>

> Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

>

> Ali

>

July 13, 2006

Thank you all for your greatly appreciated input on this matter. I will

certainly be reading your posts to understand better what we are dealing with

here. Good luck to everyone with managing and helping their kids overcome OCD

and other ailments!

Re: Daughter OCD Hair Fixation - Help