Tag Archives: OCD

Pediatric OCD is diagnosed in school-age children between age 7 to 12. The diagnosis of OCD in kids and teens is often overlooked and under-diagnosed. If your child struggles with the following symptoms, your child may struggle with OCD:

These obsessions are the most common among kids and teens:

• Fear of dirt or germs
• Fear of contamination
• A need for symmetry, order, and precision
• Religious obsessions
• Preoccupation with body wastes
• Lucky and unlucky numbers
• Sexual or aggressive thoughts
• Fear of illness or harm coming to oneself or relatives
• Preoccupation with household items
• Inrusive sounds or words

These compulsions are the most common among kids and teens:

• Grooming rituals, including hand washing, showering, and teeth brushing
• Repeating rituals, including going in and out of doorways, needing to move through spaces in a special way, or rereading, erasing, and rewriting
• Checking rituals to make sure that an appliance is off or a door is locked, and repeatedly checking homework
• Rituals to undo contact with a “contaminated” person or object
• Touching rituals
• Rituals to prevent harming self or others
• Ordering or arranging objects
• Counting rituals
• Hoarding and collecting things of no apparent value
• Cleaning rituals related to the house or other items

OCD is like the hiccups of the brain. It makes your child get stuck and cannot stop doing the compulsions. When you attempt to interrupt OCD, your child can have a melt down. The cause of OCD is believed to reside in the deep brain circutry that involves prefrontal cortex (orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate cortexes), basal ganglia, and thalamus. Very rarely, certain autoimmune process after streptococcus infection can trigger OCD and it is called PANDAS (pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with Streptococcal infections).

When you suspect your child struggles with OCD, it is very important to work with professionals who specialize in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Your involvement in treatment process is also very important to the treatment outcomes. Sometimes, medications can facilitate the therapeutic process of CBT for severe cases of OCD. Other alternative treatment for refractory OCD include transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and deep brain stimulation (DBS).

Please check out the following website for resources if your child struggles with OCD.

https://www.ocdkidsmovie.com/ocdresources

Understanding the OCD Cycle

Living with OCD can feel like having a “glitchy” alarm system in your brain. It’s not just about being tidy; it’s about navigating a world where your mind occasionally shouts about dangers that aren’t actually there. It’s a challenge shared by millions of people—roughly 1 in every 100 adults—and it’s a journey that takes a lot of hidden courage.

The “Uninvited Guests” (Obsessions)

Imagine an intrusive thought like a pop-up ad you didn’t ask for. These are persistent, unwanted thoughts or images that can feel loud and distressing. They aren’t a reflection of who you are; they are just “mental noise” that your brain is struggling to filter out, often causing you to feel like you need to do something—anything—to make the noise stop.

The “Safety Loops” (Compulsions)

When that alarm goes off, your brain looks for a way to feel safe again. This is where compulsions come in. Whether it’s a physical action like checking a lock or a mental one like repeating a phrase, these are essentially “safety rituals.” They are your brain’s attempt to find a sense of certainty, even if the ritual itself feels exhausting or doesn’t quite make sense to the outside world.

The Many Faces of OCD

OCD doesn’t look the same for everyone. Because the brain’s “safety system” is so complex, the “alarm” can attach itself to almost anything. You might find that your experience falls into one or more of these common themes:

• The Need for “Just Right” (Symmetry & Order): This is a deep internal push for balance or exactness. It’s not about being neat; it’s about the physical or mental discomfort that arises when things feel “off.”
• The Safety Check (Responsibility): A heavy feeling of being responsible for preventing harm. This often leads to checking locks, stoves, or even replaying memories to make sure everyone is okay.
• The Shield Against Germs (Contamination): An intense fear that something invisible—like germs or toxins—might hurt you or someone you love, leading to a need for repetitive cleaning.
• The Moral Compass (Scrupulosity & Forbidden Thoughts): Sometimes the alarm sounds over matters of morality, faith, or “taboo” thoughts. This can feel like a constant, painful questioning of whether you are a “good person.”
• The Body Connection (Somatic & Sensory): This involves becoming hyper-aware of your own breathing, blinking, or physical sensations, or needing to tap or touch things until a sense of relief settles in.
• The Power of Thought (Magical Thinking): The exhausting belief that your thoughts or small, unrelated actions have the power to change external events.

Finding the Right Path Forward

If any of these feel familiar, please know that these are well-documented experiences. Professionals use tools like the Y-BOCS (the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale) to help map out these symptoms and measure their intensity. It’s not a test you pass or fail—it’s a roadmap to help you get the right support.

Take the next step: If you’re ready to move toward clarity, we’re here to help. You can reach out to Remède Therapy for a warm, professional assessment.

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