Re: Update on my son and crying

November 18, 2008

What great news! This is such a joy reading emails like this one!

Peggy

Subject: Update on my son and crying

To:

Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 1:53 PM

HI,

I had posted last week about my 9 year old son who was crying several

times a day in school. He was having to leave the classroom because he

couldn't control the tears. Well, it's been 5 days in a row with no

tears! He still gets the urge once in a while, but he's able to fight

it now.

The hardest part of his day is when I drop him off in the morning. I

offered to bring him to school this past weekend, and drop him off and

drive away, over and over. He said that he understood what I was

trying to do, but he said he needed to fight this on his own. He also

said it wouldn't be the same, since he'd know that I'd be coming right

back!

He's mentioned having some random fears throughout the day, mostly

about things catching on fire, or him getting poisoned by something.

This is new. He knows it's the OCD trying to scare him, but he only

feels better after he tells the teacher. I told him today that his

goal is to not tell anyone, and let the fear pass on it's own. He said

he's going to try.

The therapist started CBT last week by getting him to identify the

difference between his thoughts and the OCD thoughts. She told him

that the negative or scary thoughts are the OCD. He came up with the

idea of a door in his brain that's letting the OCD in, and then a

trapdoor that it falls out of. He said that he feels like the OCD is

getting smaller and weaker.

I also started him on Mindsoothe 10 days ago. Not sure if that's why

he's better, but I'll take the improvement!

This group is so wonderful. I appreciate everyone's support and

suggestions, and hope I can help someone too.

November 18, 2008

That is terrific, . It sounds like he is getting the gist of it

and how to fight it. Good for him. )

OCD morphs like that with our son too. New things crop up often.

Typical with OCD. Sounds like your son is getting the whole idea that

you just recognize it for what it is (OCD), then apply the same

techniques.

Fighting OCD takes courage. I think our kids are some of the bravest

people around.

BJ

>

> HI,

> I had posted last week about my 9 year old son who was crying several

> times a day in school. He was having to leave the classroom because he

> couldn't control the tears. Well, it's been 5 days in a row with no

> tears! He still gets the urge once in a while, but he's able to fight

> it now.

>

> The hardest part of his day is when I drop him off in the morning. I

> offered to bring him to school this past weekend, and drop him off and

> drive away, over and over. He said that he understood what I was

> trying to do, but he said he needed to fight this on his own. He also

> said it wouldn't be the same, since he'd know that I'd be coming right

> back!

>

> He's mentioned having some random fears throughout the day, mostly

> about things catching on fire, or him getting poisoned by something.

> This is new. He knows it's the OCD trying to scare him, but he only

> feels better after he tells the teacher. I told him today that his

> goal is to not tell anyone, and let the fear pass on it's own. He said

> he's going to try.

>

> The therapist started CBT last week by getting him to identify the

> difference between his thoughts and the OCD thoughts. She told him

> that the negative or scary thoughts are the OCD. He came up with the

> idea of a door in his brain that's letting the OCD in, and then a

> trapdoor that it falls out of. He said that he feels like the OCD is

> getting smaller and weaker.

>

> I also started him on Mindsoothe 10 days ago. Not sure if that's why

> he's better, but I'll take the improvement!

>

> This group is so wonderful. I appreciate everyone's support and

> suggestions, and hope I can help someone too.

>

November 18, 2008

Hi ,

" He came up with the idea of a door in his brain that's letting the

OCD in, and then a trapdoor that it falls out of. "

I love your son's idea! It shows how creative these kids are. It

sounds like he understands the OCD now, and the fact that he wants to

fight it it GOLD!!! So happy things have improved so much.

Warmly,

Barb

>

November 19, 2008

We are just starting to diagnose my son's behavior as OCD, possibly PANDAS

(still waiting for the results of the titer test). But for about a year, we've

been naming the thoughts that seem to keep him off balance. At the time, I

figured he was just an anxious kid, and he may have anxiety issues in addition

to the OCD - hard to tell what's really going on in a 6 yr old's head. But I got

Dr. Chansky's book about anxiety and then incorporated the CBT ideas into a

story book of my own about how my son (the hero of the book) dethrones " Warren

the Worrier " . The premise is that there's a little guy on my son's shoulder

whispering worry thoughts in his ear, sometimes using a megaphone to drown out

the Positive Thinker (who sits on the other shoulder). The characters

battle over control of the megaphone and ultimately the hero uses CBT ideas to

gain control over his thoughts again.

Now we're expanding our list of characters to include Edgar the Angry and Calm

Calvin (who is the smartest of the bunch because you can only learn in school

and hear the message when you're calm, so Calm Calvin knows the most because he

can listen and concentrate the best). Last night when I lost my temper over

homework and the two of us started locking horns, I put myself in a time out and

told my son I needed time to get my Angry Edgar back in his box.

It's a little weird to be encouraging all these talking voices in my son's head

(feels like I'm encouraging him to be schizophrenic) but the personification

seems to help him feel more in control. Instead of some nebulous feeling he

can't articulate, conjuring a character lets him imagine conquering that

character.

Like the rest of you, thanks for giving me the gift of not feeling alone!

November 19, 2008

Well it sounds to me like you should publish!

There are not enough good childrens ocd books!

Subject: Re: Update on my son and crying

To:

Date: Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 9:21 AM