INTRODUCING MYSELF

[Guest guest]

I have been on this group for awhile now, reading posts as much as I can. It

has been helpful to read what others go through as OCD parents, so that we know

we are not alone in our challenges. Our city is small, so there are no

qualified OCD therapists here which is extremely disappointing. When I go to

the school to try to get some help for my son, they don't even comprehend what

I'm talking about. My husband and I have been blessed with 6 children. I don't

want to post too long of a message, but will summarize that 4 of our children

deal with ocd type problems - intrusive thoughts, extreme mood swings,

anxieties, panic attacks, fears, cutting, anorexia. My husband also has ocd,

although he has never been officially diagnosed. When we were first married, he

would just seem remote and quiet, and on talking to him, I was very perplexed as

to what was wrong. I researched his problems on the internet (this was years

ago when information was a little harder to come by) and found people describing

almost exactly the same thought patterns - having to sit in the bathroom at work

for an hour trying to reconstruct in his mind the exact shade of blue of the car

he had passed while driving to the point of not being able to focus on daily

tasks, having to slap his leg so that he would have physical pain to remember

that he had locked the door at his office otherwise he would go back and check

over and over, talking to himself trying to figure out the exact order of a

conversation he had had, etc. OCD behaviors began cropping up in most of our

children along the way. To say the least, I never would have dreamed that I

would face this as a wife and mother. Our household is filled with moodiness,

anger, yelling, meltdowns, head-banging, crying, lots of crying, depression,

anxiety. It is difficult. Having said all that, my children are amazing. I am

just a little biased. They are blessed with so many talents - acting, music,

photography, painting, writing, athletics... The only reason I bring this up is

to say that while we as OCD parents have SO MUCH to deal with, OCD kids seem to

be unusually gifted. I hope I can encourage other OCD parents that there is a

good side to all of this. And it actually seems to be getting better. My son,

especially, is seeming to be able to work through his problems more. Our

prayers have been answered. I have been helped so much by your honest and frank

sharing on what you have faced. Just wanted to officially introduce myself

because I do have some questions but will save that until later. Take care.