Children With Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – What You Need to Know

Children with obsessive compulsive disorder may not consider his/her symptoms unusual or out of the ordinary. Unlike most adults who realize that their obsessions are irrational, children with obsessive compulsive disorder may think that the obsessions are just worries and that the compulsions reasonable ways to manage these worries.

Children With Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – Strike Patterns

Obsessive compulsive disorder afflicts over 2 million adult Americans (not including those who display the symptoms of the disorder though not the actual disease itself). A third of this number began as children with obsessive compulsive disorder, or at least began displaying certain symptoms at an early age.

Children with obsessive compulsive disorder may also be afflicted with other disorders that mask OCD symptoms, which often lead to a wrong diagnosis.

Some studies indicate that the disorder may run in the child's family. Symptoms usually begin to manifest themselves in childhood, the teen years, or early adulthood. The disorder strikes males and females in roughly equal numbers.

Children With Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – Mistaken Diagnoses

One of the most unfortunate things that could happen to children with obsessive compulsive disorder is to be misdiagnosed. This happens more often than you would want to believe.

The main reason for misdiagnoses is that children with obsessive compulsive disorder also have (or display symptoms similar to) other disorders, such as:

• Autism (although they may not have it at all)
• Depression
• Eating Disorders
• Attention Deficit Disorder
• Tourette's Syndrome
• Anxiety Disorder (other than OCD, that is)

Other reasons for misdiagnoses (or under-diagnoses) are related to parents being embarrassed about admitting that their child with obsessive compulsive disorder manifests his/her symptoms.

Children With Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – Consequences

Denial, lack of sensitivity, and poor education regarding children with obsessive compulsive disorder is apparent in the following statistics.

• OCD sufferers see an average of 3 to 4 doctors.
• OCD sufferers spend more than 9 years searching for treatment before they FINALLY receive the right diagnosis.
• Research shows that from the time OCD symptoms begin to manifest to the time the person gets the right treatment takes a mean amount of time of 17 years!

Children With Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – What to Do

How can you ensure that your child doesn't become one of the unfortunate statistics above? The most important thing you can do as a parent is to deal with a child's worries. Don't shrug them off.

Worrying (about getting lost, hurt, encountering burglars) is a child's natural defense. While these concerns may help a kid be careful and stay safe, be sensitive to constant, repeated worries. How intense is his/her concern about something? How often does it happen?

The best advice would probably be this: take time to really listen to your child.