Guest guest Posted November 15, 2011 Report Share Posted November 15, 2011 Hello all! This is my first time posting so I hope I am doing this correctly. About 8 weeks ago my daughter started texting me from school telling me EVERYTHING she was doing wrong or had done wrong in the past. Long story short this progressed into " lots of unwanted thoughts " that were consuming her day. She has some compulsions, for example, rereading words in books, writing commas then erasing them, and rewriting some letters " that just aren't right. " The first initial therapist told us this was just anxiety, but as I began to do my own research I decided to seek out another opinion because I was convinced this was OCD. We are now at a therapist that agrees and are in the beginning stages of treatment. While waiting for treatment to begin I read a book called Freeing your child from OCD. I began some CBT at home and my daughter seemed to get her thoughts under control. We labeled them as OCD, named OCD and began to talk back to the thoughts. We went for about 4 weeks and she was getting through school well and seemed to be on the right track. Until last night....! She came home from school and it was like we took 20 steps backwards. I am wondering if this is common. In your experiences do you make progress then does it sneek back up on you again? I am very frustrated and hurt so terribly bad for my daughter. I want to fix this and take it all away for her! While I am waiting for treatment to really take off at the therapists office is there anything else I can be doing at home to help her? Thanks for you time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 15, 2011 Report Share Posted November 15, 2011 Yes, the return of the OCD is called a burst. It is normal but frustrating. The key word is " manage " , not " fix " because if tied with anxiety, it is a life long condition. Sounds like you are on the right track with the therapy. Would prob. look at school if that seems to be the trigger. See if there is something that is increasing her anxiety. For my son, it was a schedule change which caused a burst. In the past, it has been seasonal light change, certain teachers, deaths in family, social issues at school, depressing news on radio/tv, watching certain movies, change of routine-summer,mom gone for 1-2 days, substitute teachers, lag in therapy schedule, issues with father, fears in room . Getting a 504 plan was helpful too. I have to say the most helpful thing has been his yellow lab. Good luck. > > Hello all! This is my first time posting so I hope I am doing this correctly. About 8 weeks ago my daughter started texting me from school telling me EVERYTHING she was doing wrong or had done wrong in the past. Long story short this progressed into " lots of unwanted thoughts " that were consuming her day. She has some compulsions, for example, rereading words in books, writing commas then erasing them, and rewriting some letters " that just aren't right. " The first initial therapist told us this was just anxiety, but as I began to do my own research I decided to seek out another opinion because I was convinced this was OCD. We are now at a therapist that agrees and are in the beginning stages of treatment. > > While waiting for treatment to begin I read a book called Freeing your child from OCD. I began some CBT at home and my daughter seemed to get her thoughts under control. We labeled them as OCD, named OCD and began to talk back to the thoughts. We went for about 4 weeks and she was getting through school well and seemed to be on the right track. Until last night....! She came home from school and it was like we took 20 steps backwards. I am wondering if this is common. In your experiences do you make progress then does it sneek back up on you again? > > I am very frustrated and hurt so terribly bad for my daughter. I want to fix this and take it all away for her! While I am waiting for treatment to really take off at the therapists office is there anything else I can be doing at home to help her? > > Thanks for you time > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 15, 2011 Report Share Posted November 15, 2011 Wax and wane, that's part of OCD. And yes, it can feel like 20 steps backwards after progress. Sigh! It's normal with OCD. Stress from any source could worsen it, for a day or longer. But that's great she's been making progress! Eventually with therapy and progress, things will stop backtracking so much. Sounds like you're doing a great job at home now. If she's having trouble with reading, writing, other things that can affect her regarding school, perhaps she just had a bad day with it all. And often holding back at school can have them bursting forth with it all once home and through the door! But seems she's been doing well overall with this. Keep us posted on how it's going. We had to set up a 504 Plan with school to help my son with how OCD was affecting his ability to do the work. Glad you found our group! single mom, 3 sons , 22, with OCD, dysgraphia, Aspergers Graduated UNC-CH in August with B.S., Biology > > Hello all! This is my first time posting so I hope I am doing this correctly. About 8 weeks ago my daughter started texting me from school telling me EVERYTHING she was doing wrong or had done wrong in the past. Long story short this progressed into " lots of unwanted thoughts " that were consuming her day. She has some compulsions, for example, rereading words in books, writing commas then erasing them, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 That is awesome that she responded to CBT/ERP. Some don't, so knowing that she can improve with " retraining the brain " is a great thing. Those set backs are just the worst. It would always make me feel sucker punched. It's very much part of it though. It is a life long disorder, unfortunately. Sometimes you can tell if something set things off, but sometimes you can't. Like said, the waxing and waning is the nature of OCD. We found, you just nip it in the bud and try to get it back under control. Sometimes that easier than other times. One thing we found very helpful, because they can't work on fighting OCD 24/7, is distractions. When our son was going through a rough patch, we would try different things to try to distract his mind. Glad you found our group, . BJ > > Hello all! This is my first time posting so I hope I am doing this correctly. About 8 weeks ago my daughter started texting me from school telling me EVERYTHING she was doing wrong or had done wrong in the past. Long story short this progressed into " lots of unwanted thoughts " that were consuming her day. She has some compulsions, for example, rereading words in books, writing commas then erasing them, and rewriting some letters " that just aren't right. " The first initial therapist told us this was just anxiety, but as I began to do my own research I decided to seek out another opinion because I was convinced this was OCD. We are now at a therapist that agrees and are in the beginning stages of treatment. > > While waiting for treatment to begin I read a book called Freeing your child from OCD. I began some CBT at home and my daughter seemed to get her thoughts under control. We labeled them as OCD, named OCD and began to talk back to the thoughts. We went for about 4 weeks and she was getting through school well and seemed to be on the right track. Until last night....! She came home from school and it was like we took 20 steps backwards. I am wondering if this is common. In your experiences do you make progress then does it sneek back up on you again? > > I am very frustrated and hurt so terribly bad for my daughter. I want to fix this and take it all away for her! While I am waiting for treatment to really take off at the therapists office is there anything else I can be doing at home to help her? > > Thanks for you time > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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