Re: exhausted with CBT

October 6, 2011

I'm so sorry things are not going well. Although I'm very glad to hear she is

eating.

It's hard when they are not motivated. Our son was, and worked on many things,

showing improvement, but we had to lower his meds and many new things have

popped up and he says he is working on them, but we never see the evidence of

that. It's frustrating!

Motivators can be that you don't enable them with their OCD. It's hard to carry

out because they can melt down over it. For instance, with hand washing

(something we are dealing with here now too), I've told him he gets a certain

amount of liquid soap in his bathroom and has to make it last.

With the bed wetting, you can have her clean it up by washing the sheets and

remaking the bed. Although, I do recall others in here mentioning that certain

SSRI antidepressants caused bed wetting for their child, so if that is a new

thing, it might be the medication rather than the OCD. Has she explained why

she is bed wetting? I recall one person in here saying her son told her he knew

he was doing it, but he just " couldn't " get up, because of OCD. But, if it is

happening in her sleep, without any OCD thought attached to it, I would question

if it's the meds.

With reassurance, don't participate. That can be a hard one, because I find

myself doing it without thinking sometimes. Then catch myself and stop myself.

And when she does work on things, reward her. Find something she wants and

encourage her to work towards getting it, with her cooperation. Have her make a

list and work on the things on it. You can decide at what point she can achieve

a reward for her efforts.

Your analogy about the birds is heart breaking. I think we can all relate to

that. :~(

It's so hard to watch, I know. It makes us feel so helpless.

Hugs,

BJ

>

> Hello all, it's been a year or more since I've posted. My daughter was

diagnosed 2 years ago and has been receiving CBT since. She's also run the med

gamut. Zoloft at alarming levels and now Prozac at gradually increasing levels.

The Zoloft worked " too well " and left her few symptoms to work on in therapy,

but didn't decrease her anxiety level. The switch to Prozac has left her exactly

where she began years ago. Scratch that, she is able to eat now. And having her

not starving herself for fear of being poisoned seems like a luxury. However,

the ever revolving door of symptoms has certainly kept me on my toes! (sorry,

always looking for the silver lining) We have devolved into handwashing,

spitting, bedwetting, reassurance rituals, checking, counting... check with me

tomorrow, the list may be longer. I've done my homework. She needs to do the

work herself, I get it but... does anyone have any ideas for motivators to

encourage her to fight? I'm very discouraged and feeling as if all the therapy

hasn't made a wick of difference. I feel as if I've brought into life this

beautiful person who is being pecked to death by invisible birds. And I am

helpless to stop it. Last year, when she was 9 she told me she " wants to die "

because it would be easier. Her therapist suggested that I have her committed.

I, of course, refused. I'm fearful that she's entering those pre-pubescent years

(almost 11) and it's difficult enough to be a girl, without being " the weird

girl " who counts her steps to the cafeteria while she spits into her shirt.

>

October 7, 2011

Knight,

I'm sorry to hear your daughter is having such a rough time. Our daughter was

diagnosed at the beginning of 8th grade and is now a junior. She's been on

Lexapro 10 mcg for a little over 2 years now. It seems to work well for her and

allows her to maintain and keep up her grades at school (she works really hard

at doing well). Once in awhile though, in fact just last weekend, she had an

anxiety attack before bed. She had forgotten to take her medicine that morning,

and we went to a pumpkin patch where some of our group would pull pieces of hay

out and stick them in their mouths. She actually went ahead and did it too with

no problem, but I think by bedtime and being tired, OCD showed up to mess with

her.

Good for you on sticking with the CBT so long. We have never been able to find

a good therapist who knew anything about OCD that we could afford because none

of the trained ones in our area are on our insurance, plus she just wouldn't

participate.

Your daughter is entering the volatile world of middle school; does she have any

close friends? I wish I could offer some support there; my daughter's friends

pretty much abandoned her when we confided in them, so now she just kind of goes

it alone.

Debbie

> >

> > Hello all, it's been a year or more since I've posted. My daughter was