Guest guest Posted October 29, 2011 Report Share Posted October 29, 2011 Hi Beth, I can only imagine how scary it's been for you having a 4 year old express the violent and sexual thoughts. I'm so sorry. Since this just started occurring recently, I would suggest looking into PANDAS/PITAND while you are waiting for your appointment. Have your pediatrician test your child for strep and other infections. Sometimes these infections can cause a faulty immune response where antibodies attack the brain instead of the infection. The result can be sudden onset OCD and/or other symptoms such as tics, ADHD like behavior, age regression, deterioration in fine/gross motor skills, separation anxiety, etc. A good place to start would be to look in the files section on this website. There are also some PANDAS/PITAND support groups where parents are very willing to help as well. While therapy is recommended for both PANDAS and traditional OCD, the medical treatment differs. For PANDAS you use medications that attack the infection (antibiotics). For traditional OCD, you would use SSRIs/antidepressants. If you have any questions, feel free to post or email me directly. Best wishes, Kara > > I am very glad to have found this group and appreciate everyone sharing their experiences--it helps. My dd is 4 years old and has recently started experiencing strong needs for confessions and tons of intrusive thoughts of a violent or sexual nature. Initially, it was incredibly disturbing and scary for me but getting a little bit more of a handle of knowing what we're dealing with is helping bring my own anxiety down a little. We've been working with her at home while we were on giant wait lists for services but finally got a call yesterday for an appointment with a psychiatrist at the local children's hospital, but it's not for a couple of months. It breaks my heart to see my tiny, sweet girl plagued by these thoughts. At the end of each day we talk about our best and worst part of the day and she always says that her worst is her thoughts (sometimes she throws in another everyday 4 year old disappointment like not getting something she wants). Transitions are hard for her and we're already looking at how we're going to deal with kindergarten next year. I look forward to reading more about everyone else's experiences and especially hope to hear more about parents with really little ones with this. Thanks. -Beth > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 30, 2011 Report Share Posted October 30, 2011 Hey Beth, welcome! So sorry your daughter is having these thoughts, but know many others at her young age have too. Glad you're feeling a bit better now that you know what you're dealing with. Have you visited the OCD Foundation website yet? They recently redid the website, have a good site about OCD in kids/teens. http://www.ocfoundation.org/ocdinkids/ They also list some of the popular books for kids (under Kids) about OCD, she may enjoy hearing some. Also books for parents (under Parents). These books can be a huge help in understanding OCD and it's treatment. My son's OCD began in 6th grade (he's 22 now) and we couldn't find any therapist nearby, so reading about how therapy works helped us to work on things ourselves (much harder, slower, with " mom " as therapist but we did make progress). Though you did say you're already working on it too already, I think it helps too so you know how the therapist (when you get one) should proceed. I see Kara mentioned PANDAS OCD to you, feel free to ask questions if you pursue that. As she said, the therapy (CBT with ERP) would be the same but the medication side of treatment would be different. Glad you found our group, > > I am very glad to have found this group and appreciate everyone sharing their experiences--it helps. My dd is 4 years old and has recently started experiencing strong needs for confessions and tons of intrusive thoughts of a violent or sexual nature. Initially, it was incredibly disturbing and scary for me but getting a little bit more of a handle of knowing what we're dealing with is helping bring my own anxiety down a little. We've been working with her at home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 3, 2012 Report Share Posted January 3, 2012 Hi Beth, My son is now 5 and was also diagnosed at 4. Like you I've had a really hard time finding parents with children who were diagnosed so young. And it's been hard to find any sort of advice or information for very young kids. It's also been tough dealing with his teachers since I guess they aren't used to dealing with his issues either. His symptoms are not the same - he does not have the intrusive thoughts that you talk about - but he is rather death obsessed. He has LOTS of death questions and he is extremely attached to rituals. He also has a really hard time with transition. In fact, that's when we finally got help - when he entered kindergarten. It just caused a complete meltdown. At first I thought.. well, lots of kids have a hard time entering Kindergarten... but I knew this was different. The good news is that we were able to work through that transition, but I'm discovering that his OCD is sort of like that arcade game " whack-a-mole " and the minute you address one issue, or ritual he creates, another one pops up. So it's been a year and we are still sort of feeling out the situation and grasping that we have a long road ahead, but it's sort of comforting to run into other parents with very young children who are going through the same thing. Tricia > > I am very glad to have found this group and appreciate everyone sharing their experiences--it helps. My dd is 4 years old and has recently started experiencing strong needs for confessions and tons of intrusive thoughts of a violent or sexual nature. Initially, it was incredibly disturbing and scary for me but getting a little bit more of a handle of knowing what we're dealing with is helping bring my own anxiety down a little. We've been working with her at home while we were on giant wait lists for services but finally got a call yesterday for an appointment with a psychiatrist at the local children's hospital, but it's not for a couple of months. It breaks my heart to see my tiny, sweet girl plagued by these thoughts. At the end of each day we talk about our best and worst part of the day and she always says that her worst is her thoughts (sometimes she throws in another everyday 4 year old disappointment like not getting something she wants). Transitions are hard for her and we're already looking at how we're going to deal with kindergarten next year. I look forward to reading more about everyone else's experiences and especially hope to hear more about parents with really little ones with this. Thanks. -Beth > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 3, 2012 Report Share Posted January 3, 2012 Hi Beth, My son is now 5 and was also diagnosed at 4. Like you I've had a really hard time finding parents with children who were diagnosed so young. And it's been hard to find any sort of advice or information for very young kids. It's also been tough dealing with his teachers since I guess they aren't used to dealing with his issues either. His symptoms are not the same - he does not have the intrusive thoughts that you talk about - but he is rather death obsessed. He has LOTS of death questions and he is extremely attached to rituals. He also has a really hard time with transition. In fact, that's when we finally got help - when he entered kindergarten. It just caused a complete meltdown. At first I thought.. well, lots of kids have a hard time entering Kindergarten... but I knew this was different. The good news is that we were able to work through that transition, but I'm discovering that his OCD is sort of like that arcade game " whack-a-mole " and the minute you address one issue, or ritual he creates, another one pops up. So it's been a year and we are still sort of feeling out the situation and grasping that we have a long road ahead, but it's sort of comforting to run into other parents with very young children who are going through the same thing. Tricia > > I am very glad to have found this group and appreciate everyone sharing their experiences--it helps. My dd is 4 years old and has recently started experiencing strong needs for confessions and tons of intrusive thoughts of a violent or sexual nature. Initially, it was incredibly disturbing and scary for me but getting a little bit more of a handle of knowing what we're dealing with is helping bring my own anxiety down a little. We've been working with her at home while we were on giant wait lists for services but finally got a call yesterday for an appointment with a psychiatrist at the local children's hospital, but it's not for a couple of months. It breaks my heart to see my tiny, sweet girl plagued by these thoughts. At the end of each day we talk about our best and worst part of the day and she always says that her worst is her thoughts (sometimes she throws in another everyday 4 year old disappointment like not getting something she wants). Transitions are hard for her and we're already looking at how we're going to deal with kindergarten next year. I look forward to reading more about everyone else's experiences and especially hope to hear more about parents with really little ones with this. Thanks. -Beth > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 I don't have a lot of helpful advice for you, but one thing that I can tell you for sure is that " change' and " stress " trigger OCD episodes. I have heard this from even adults who suffer from OCD and had it as children. My child was older when she was diagnosed but she was seven when she first started exhibiting symptoms. Like the other commenter, my child is death obsessed (or killing obsessed) which can be quite frightening. She has never displayed any violent behavior herself, but she just likes to read about it and watch documentaries about it. I know there are a lot of parents who are anti-medication, so if you are then I understand. However, my daughter got a lot of relief from Prozac 10mg. I don't know if your children are too young to be placed on this type of medication, but it brought us a great deal of help. > > > > I am very glad to have found this group and appreciate everyone sharing their experiences--it helps. My dd is 4 years old and has recently started experiencing strong needs for confessions and tons of intrusive thoughts of a violent or sexual nature. Initially, it was incredibly disturbing and scary for me but getting a little bit more of a handle of knowing what we're dealing with is helping bring my own anxiety down a little. We've been working with her at home while we were on giant wait lists for services but finally got a call yesterday for an appointment with a psychiatrist at the local children's hospital, but it's not for a couple of months. It breaks my heart to see my tiny, sweet girl plagued by these thoughts. At the end of each day we talk about our best and worst part of the day and she always says that her worst is her thoughts (sometimes she throws in another everyday 4 year old disappointment like not getting something she wants). Transitions are hard for her and we're already looking at how we're going to deal with kindergarten next year. I look forward to reading more about everyone else's experiences and especially hope to hear more about parents with really little ones with this. Thanks. -Beth > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 I don't have a lot of helpful advice for you, but one thing that I can tell you for sure is that " change' and " stress " trigger OCD episodes. I have heard this from even adults who suffer from OCD and had it as children. My child was older when she was diagnosed but she was seven when she first started exhibiting symptoms. Like the other commenter, my child is death obsessed (or killing obsessed) which can be quite frightening. She has never displayed any violent behavior herself, but she just likes to read about it and watch documentaries about it. I know there are a lot of parents who are anti-medication, so if you are then I understand. However, my daughter got a lot of relief from Prozac 10mg. I don't know if your children are too young to be placed on this type of medication, but it brought us a great deal of help. > > > > I am very glad to have found this group and appreciate everyone sharing their experiences--it helps. My dd is 4 years old and has recently started experiencing strong needs for confessions and tons of intrusive thoughts of a violent or sexual nature. Initially, it was incredibly disturbing and scary for me but getting a little bit more of a handle of knowing what we're dealing with is helping bring my own anxiety down a little. We've been working with her at home while we were on giant wait lists for services but finally got a call yesterday for an appointment with a psychiatrist at the local children's hospital, but it's not for a couple of months. It breaks my heart to see my tiny, sweet girl plagued by these thoughts. At the end of each day we talk about our best and worst part of the day and she always says that her worst is her thoughts (sometimes she throws in another everyday 4 year old disappointment like not getting something she wants). Transitions are hard for her and we're already looking at how we're going to deal with kindergarten next year. I look forward to reading more about everyone else's experiences and especially hope to hear more about parents with really little ones with this. Thanks. -Beth > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 I don't have a lot of helpful advice for you, but one thing that I can tell you for sure is that " change' and " stress " trigger OCD episodes. I have heard this from even adults who suffer from OCD and had it as children. My child was older when she was diagnosed but she was seven when she first started exhibiting symptoms. Like the other commenter, my child is death obsessed (or killing obsessed) which can be quite frightening. She has never displayed any violent behavior herself, but she just likes to read about it and watch documentaries about it. I know there are a lot of parents who are anti-medication, so if you are then I understand. However, my daughter got a lot of relief from Prozac 10mg. I don't know if your children are too young to be placed on this type of medication, but it brought us a great deal of help. > > > > I am very glad to have found this group and appreciate everyone sharing their experiences--it helps. My dd is 4 years old and has recently started experiencing strong needs for confessions and tons of intrusive thoughts of a violent or sexual nature. Initially, it was incredibly disturbing and scary for me but getting a little bit more of a handle of knowing what we're dealing with is helping bring my own anxiety down a little. We've been working with her at home while we were on giant wait lists for services but finally got a call yesterday for an appointment with a psychiatrist at the local children's hospital, but it's not for a couple of months. It breaks my heart to see my tiny, sweet girl plagued by these thoughts. At the end of each day we talk about our best and worst part of the day and she always says that her worst is her thoughts (sometimes she throws in another everyday 4 year old disappointment like not getting something she wants). Transitions are hard for her and we're already looking at how we're going to deal with kindergarten next year. I look forward to reading more about everyone else's experiences and especially hope to hear more about parents with really little ones with this. Thanks. -Beth > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 Tricia, " whack a mole " is so true, often compare OCD to that! Hard to see some days, but things WILL get better down the road! >> > The good news is that we were able to work through that transition, but I'm discovering that his OCD is sort of like that arcade game " whack-a-mole " and the minute you address one issue, or ritual he creates, another one pops up. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 Tricia, " whack a mole " is so true, often compare OCD to that! Hard to see some days, but things WILL get better down the road! >> > The good news is that we were able to work through that transition, but I'm discovering that his OCD is sort of like that arcade game " whack-a-mole " and the minute you address one issue, or ritual he creates, another one pops up. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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