How To Spot Signs of OCD in a Child
OCD or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in both adults and children can be described as the recurrent tendency to obsess on certain behaviors or activities that can cause distress.
Children in particular may tend to hide these behaviors for fear of rejection, which keeps their condition from being diagnosed properly. These obsessions may hamper their normal routines and other social activities, especially in school.
It is necessary for parents to be able to tell if their child has this disorder not only for them to be able to understand their condition, but also to proceed with certain measures that may help their child. Here are a few pointers to consider:
Check for repetitive or ritualistic behavior
Children may repeat a certain task over and over again until it ‘feels right’ for them, although they were doing it right in the first place.
This can be observed in their homework where they keep on rewriting or redrawing the same figures on the same space until the paper gets worn out.
Observe any case of hypersensitivity
This may be manifested in a number of ways, such as wearing clothes only in a certain way. For example, they will only wear their socks inside out because the thread at the toe annoys them, or not eating if their food is not arranged in a particular manner.
Some experience a heightened sense of touch that prompts them to touch a certain object repeatedly.
Note any type of obsession
Children with OCD may display obsessions, especially with numbers and symmetry. Some children count up to the same number again and again, have ‘safe’ or ‘unsafe’ numbers, or have particular preferences – for instance, not counting either odd or even numbers.
They may also need to repeat certain actions for a number of times before they would feel satisfied. In the case of symmetry, some kids panic when something is out of place or is uneven.
For a child with OCD, armchairs in a classroom must always be aligned, shoelaces must always have even shoestrings and copy papers should always be pure white. This is also why they do not want people touching their things due to their fear that they will get out of order.
Monitor any form of extreme fear or avoidance
An example would be a fear of contamination. Many children with OCD exhibit a critical fear of dirt and germs. They do not like to participate in any indoor or outdoor activities that will make themselves dirty.
Similarly, they wash their hands more often that other children, either for long periods of time or by following a self-determined pattern.
They often have red or chapped hands due to excessive washing. There are also some who have fears associated with the well-being of a relative or of the self, and of committing mistakes. In these cases, children would need constant reassurances to calm them down.
Be aware of signs of hoarding
Children with OCD tend to become pack rats, be it in hoarding or collecting. They may collect unusual things such as wrappers, rocks, soda cans, and the like.
Also, they panic at the thought that something bad might happen to their things if ever they get rid of them or let someone else touch them.
Children with OCD might feel that their actions ‘don’t make any sense’ but not doing those things will make them feel anxious and stressed.
Parents must be patient when dealing with them, and must likewise provide adequate help for their children such as cognitive behavioral therapies, which provides a venue for children to overcome their obsessive compulsions.