Re: Update on my high school senior daughter

[Guest guest]

My contamination OCD went out of control at college. It is really important

that you have the therapist work with her on exposure exercises with regard to

all things male, including doing laundry in washing machines that males use

before she goes to college. The stress of experiencing college for the first

time can exacerbate OCD, so it is important that she not face these issues

without having successfully gotten a grip on most of it beforehand.

Update on my high school senior daughter

I haven't posted in a while, so thought I'd update everyone. My DD17 will be

going away to college next year and I've been very concerned about how she would

make it there with her OCD - germs phobia, bodily substances phobia, social

anxiety. Well, we toured some colleges and found a real small one (2000 total,

including graduate students) that appears to be a good fit for her. They are

very techie-geeky (which describes her to a T), she will be around the same

small group of kids (in her major - Physics) probably for the entire time she is

there. Now, for rooming arrangements we have applied for her to get her own room

in a 2 bedroom suite. She would have to share a bathroom with two other girls.

This is a big anxiety item for her, but not so bad since there would be no guys

(she thinks they leave their hmmm, how do I say this, er, boyish bodily fluids

all over the place). Now, she is quite concerned about the washer/dryer

situation. She would have to use washers a nd dryers that others (including

boys) use - potentially putting her clothing in a washer where bodily fluids had

been washed. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention she is also dreadfully afraid of any

hair that appears to be pubic. If she sees such a hair in the laundry room she

may just freak out totally. Well, I found her a new therapist a couple of months

ago and I think things are going well. The therapist has her doing " homework " ,

such as she is not allowed to change her shirt when she comes home from school.

The therapist has broken down the problems into manageable pieces to be dealt

with. Now, I'm hoping that she'll be so happy to be hanging around with all the

intellectuals at her college (instead of what she calls the 'idiots' at her high

school), that she won't be as concerned and anxious about other things. This

seems to be the case at times, that if she's happy, then she's less OCD.

So, we will see how things pan out in the next year. She will be about an 11

hour drive from our home, in another state. We would not be able to quickly show

up and handle her problems. This is both good and bad.

[Guest guest]

KP, hope it works well at college. Since the " idiots " won't be there, it may

ease up the OCD some. Where the " intellectuals " are triggering the germ/other

phobias less.

Is dad or brother in the home? any washer/dryer issues with them? some exposure

there.

At least there's an apartment bathroom for her instead of a dorm one!

>

> I haven't posted in a while, so thought I'd update everyone. My DD17 will be

going away to college next year and I've been very concerned about how she would

make it there with her OCD - germs phobia, bodily substances phobia, social

anxiety. Well, we toured some colleges and found a real small one (2000 total,

including graduate students) that appears to be a good fit for her. They are

very techie-geeky (which describes her to a T), she will be around the same

small group of kids (in her major - Physics) probably for the entire time she is

there. Now, for rooming arrangements we have applied for her to get her own room

in a 2 bedroom suite. She would