Just when I thought things were getting better.

March 26, 2012

My now 4.5 year old was diagnosed with OCD exactly a year ago. She had a severe

episode where she was obessed with her fingers/toes. She would ask " Is my

fingers going to be ok? " a hundred times a minute, 24/7. It took over her whole

life constantly checking/re-checking. Couldn't wear shoes because otherwise

she'd take them on and off so she could make sure her toes were okay.

A year later it hasn't completely gone away but she self-assures herself a bit

more. She had a melt down at school over a tiny tiny booboo she got recently so

I know it's not 100% better.

I never thought a year later this would still be happening.

But I just realized today that we are going through a complete new theme with

her OCD. It started slowly and now it's developed into a monster.

Her new obession is what she is wearing. It's been going on for 3-4 months but I

just realized how abnormal it is. It's ALL she talks about. The first thing she

does in the morning is she cries and says " Mommy I need to get dressed " .. and

it's urgent. I can hear the anxiety in her voice if she can't get dressed and it

has to be certain clothes. I will catch her changing her outfit until it feels

" right " . The thing is the whole thing causes her anxiety and I don't know why.

If she can't wear the outfit she has in mind she cries and is very anxious. She

will ask reassurance that she can wear the outfit tomorrow but is constantly

asking through out the day. If I tell her I don't plan on doing laundry for

another 2-3 days she will have a panic attack.

Tonight I realized how bad it was when she had a melt down when I left for

class. I didn't put her clothes in the washing machine and ask my husband to do

it. As I was leaving she was starting to break down. " Daddy are you going to

wash my clothes.. Daddy are you going to wash my clothes " and then she screamed

bloody murder like the world was ending. She is just on constant distress about

clothing and I don't know what the underlying problem is.

I can see it's the same exact thing as her finger obsession with the constant

reassurance.. it's just a different " theme " .

I guess it's back to therapy Any thoughts on what the deeper issue is? Is it

a " just right " thing?

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