Do you notice that your child displays compulsive behaviors out of their control? Your child may engage in repeated hand-washing, or checking and rechecking that doors are locked. Maybe, they count and recount objects. Sometimes, children may follow “rules” or orders of things to an extreme extent such as putting on clothes in the same order every day. What most people fail to understand is that obsessive compulsive disorder is more than just ensuring your room is tidy and your belongings are organized. Obsessive compulsive disorder, otherwise known as OCD, is characterized as a type of anxiety disorder. Obsessions are recurring thoughts, where compulsions are recurring behaviors. OCD counseling can help your child or teen overcome their anxiety and learn positive coping skills in place of the compulsive behaviors.
Causes of OCD in Children and Teens
There is not an exact answer for why OCD develops in children and teens. Oftentimes, the onset of OCD can be a response to a traumatic or distressing life event. Sometimes, chronic stress or being in an unstable environment can also contribute to the onset of OCD in children. Other research suggests that OCD is genetic and runs in families. Research also reveals that individuals with OCD have a lack of the neurotransmitter, serotonin, in their brain. Serotonin plays an important role in learning, memory, happiness, body temperature regulation, sleep, and hunger.
OCD can develop in children of all ages. If left untreated, it can impact a child into their teen and adult years as well.
What are the Symptoms of OCD in Children?
Each child may experience OCD differently. Your child may experience obsessions or compulsions around a single behavior, whereas another child may obsess over something entirely different. Common signs of OCD in children include:
- Extreme obsession with dirt or germs
- Worrying about something bad occurring
- Interfering thoughts about violence
- Repeated doubts about successful completion of a task such as locking a door
- Long periods of time spent touching or counting items
- Thinking about numbers and sequences
- Extreme attention to detail
- Repetition of words or phrases to themself
- Uncontrollable urges and behaviors
- Extreme anxiety if something is not complete to their liking
- Fear of something bad occurring if the task is not complete to their liking
- Preoccupation with order, symmetry, exactness
- Simple tasks taking longer than usual
- Severe and extreme emotional reactions to small things
- Extended periods of unexplained time that your child or teen is spending alone
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Compulsive Behaviors in Children with OCD
Compulsive behaviors are the repetitive rituals that the individual engages in to ease the anxiety that is brought on by the obsessions. The compulsive behavior serves to bring the individual back to baseline and permits them to function adequately throughout the day.
Your child may compulsively wash their hands or shower at an exact time every day. Maybe, you notice that the skin on their hands is dry and flaky. Your child may refuse to get in bed unless they showered directly beforehand. Or, they may shower up to 3x a day or more. Excessive hand-washing and showering is a common OCD ritual amongst children that has been exacerbated by COVID. This behavior stems from an obsession with germs or dirt. It is important to note that there may not be a fear of getting sick that accompanies this behavior. However, there may instead be a discomfort associated with feeling dirty and a need to rinse off germs with soap and water.
Children with OCD often repeat their compulsions over and over again. They are often unaware that they are engaging in the repetition. Common behaviors you may notice your child repeating include counting items to themselves, repeating words, sounds, and phrases, or asking the same questions again and again.
If the compulsive behavior is not performed, it can generate a great deal of internalized anxiety for a child or teen with OCD.
What is Contamination OCD?
Compulsive hand-washing is also contamination OCD. This is a subtype of OCD where an individual experiences obsessions about a fear of experiencing contaminating or contracting/ spreading germs. In addition to repetitive hand-washing, other compulsions include excessive showering, frequent clothes changes, throwing things away, avoiding certain places, limiting clean spaces to others, and sanitizing or sterilizing things.
Contamination, for an individual with this form of OCD, is not solely specific to dirt and germs. It can also extend to bodily excretions, bodily fluids, blood, garbage, household chemicals, pets, birds, spoiled food, etc. Oftentimes, those with contamination OCD will create two different worlds- one that is clean and one that is dirty. When navigating through the dirty world, the individual can move freely about and touch things since they are already contaminated. Nothing has to be clean or avoided. The clean world, however, may be much smaller in size and limited to a certain area in one’s home. When the individual is navigating in the clean world, they may be the only one who can be in that area and touch things.
When Your Child Exhibits Compulsive Hand-washing OCD
“Washers” are the most visible among those with contamination OCD. It is not uncommon for this individual to wash their hands 50 times a day or more. They may follow an exact shower routine, or be in the shower for extended periods of time. Your child may have dry or chapped hands and skin as a result of excess washing. Maybe, they set alarms on their phone to wash their hands after every certain number of minutes.
Your child can recover from compulsive hand-washing. Working with a counselor that specializes in OCD and anxiety can your child learn different avenues of coping with and releasing their internal stress and worries.
The Effect of COVID-19 on OCD in Children
As we know, COVID-19 marked a period of heightened stress and unforeseen circumstances. However, the weight of this distressing event on a child is often overlooked. Children today continue to be significantly affected by COVID, as is evidenced through their increasing social anxiety, problems at school, difficulty regulating their emotions, and rise in OCD.
Thinking back to 2020 at the start of COVID, your child was likely a young age. They were quickly pulled from school and forced into isolation away from teachers, peers, and even other family members. It is understandable that these children may not have effectively learned how to cope with such unanticipated, and even scary events. They may not have even fully understood what was happening around them. As mental health professionals, we have seen a decrease in resiliency among children after COVID.
Instead, many children have taken to adverse coping mechanisms. Contamination OCD is a common behavior we have seen since in children since COVID. This child may have been encouraged to wash their hands or sanitize frequently to void off germs during COVID. They may have internalized this behavior as an absolutely necessary part of their regime to keep themself and their family safe. If they did not wash their hands, they may have experienced a great deal of anxiety or worry that they or their loved ones will become sick. It can be immensely difficult to break a child of this habit once it has become ingrained in their routine.
Wisdom Within Counseling specializes in OCD counseling for children. Click the button below to begin.
How OCD can Affect the Family
When a child has OCD, it can impact the whole family, and often result in frequent conflict. Your child may act on their compulsions at a set time every day, or for an extended period of time. This can cause you to be late for work or for the children to be late to school. OCD may also dictate which family members can enter certain areas of the house or touch specific items.
Naturally, parents often serve as enablers when children have OCD. This can look like helping your child carry out their compulsive behavior as opposed to limiting it. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It just demonstrates that you want your child to be alleviate of their anxiety and you know that the compulsion will help them feel better.
However, when you enable your child you also encourage their OCD to continue. As a parent, you may also feel hard on yourself watching your child struggle with OCD. You may want to support them, but maybe you feel helpless or you do not know how.
Ways to Support Your Child with OCD
You can support your child with OCD in a multitude of ways. First, having a calm and nurturing presence around them can help alleviate any underlying anxiety they may be feeling. Strive to create a peaceful home environment that is void of harsh conflict, intense emotional outbursts, and triggering or stressful events.
Another way to support your child with OCD is to set limits and boundaries on certain things. You may have to remain firm about assisting or not assisting your child with their compulsions. It may also be useful to be cautious of the amount of time one talks about OCD. If you are incessantly nagging your child about their compulsions, try to refrain. Constant nagging and reinforcement can cause even more anxiety for your child. Instead, try to find a set time each week to check in with your child on how they are feeling and any progress they experience.
Art Therapy and OCD Counseling for Children
Children with OCD often need a creative outlet to direct their energy and release inner anxiety. At Wisdom Within Counseling, we offer expressive art therapy for children and teens that have OCD. Through the use of art, we effectively teach children coping skills, emotion regulation, and positive techniques to reduce anxiety and build confidence and self-esteem. Art therapy allows children with OCD to learn how to process their thoughts and feelings in a way that makes sense to them. Children with OCD can also gain control over their obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors and ultimately demonstrate autonomy and enhanced self-awareness.
How Wisdom Within Counseling can Help Support Your Child
At Wisdom Within Counseling, we help children of all ages learn tools to overcome life’s challenges and feel confident in their abilities. We help support children with OCD by using art, music, nature, play, CBT, DBT, mindfulness, meditation, breath-work, and more. Additionally, we also work closely with parents to provide them with creative ways to support their child at home and in school.
We would love to support you and your child as they gain control over their OCD and learn to grow and flourish in healthy, positive ways.
