DISORDERS

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder:

Click here to listen to Dr. Karen Cassiday discuss treatment of OCD

Obsessive compulsive disorder affects approximately 1-2.5% of the adult population, with approximately 50-60% of those adults having symptoms that began during childhood.. Approximately 2-3% of children and teens will develop OCD and it occurs equally among males and females. OCD has been observed to occur in children as young as 18 months. Many parents of OCD realize in retrospect that their child’s symptoms were first noticeable during the preschool years.

OCD occurs when intrusive thoughts or images produce anxiety and the person then engages in behaviors to reduce the anxiety, called compulsions. Most teens and adults recognize that their obsessions do not make sense, but feel compelled to do their compulsions anyway in order to feel less anxious or uncomfortable. Children may not realize that their obsessions or compulsions may be unreasonable and instead they are just able to tell their parents or teachers that they have to do their compulsions. Inexplicable oppositional behaviors may be the first indication of OCD for many parents, when their child refuses to do something because of their rituals or avoidance. OCD in younger children is more likely to occur in boys.

Some of the more common forms of OCD are:

• fears of contamination and compulsive washing or cleaning
• distress about disorder or lack of symmetry and arranging or ordering compulsions
• fears of harm coming to others and compulsive checking and reassurance seeking pefectionism OCD
• intrusive sexual, blasphemous or sexual thoughts and avoidance and reassurance seeking compulsions, or ritualistic prayer
• compulsive hoarding of unneeded items, overwhelming quantities of clothing, housewares or other items such that the living space and/or workspace becomes very difficult to use or even unusable

Effective treatment of OCD involves exposure with response prevention therapy, cognitive therapy and possible pharmacotherapy. AATC specializes in treating both the milder and more severe forms of this disorder. Staff will train you and your child to gradually face the situations and thoughts that provoke your child’s OCD while learning how not to respond with rituals, compulsions, reassurance seeking or avoidance. We will accompany you and your child into the situations that OCD makes difficult and help your child learn how to get used to it without giving in to the OCD. If your OCD hinders much of your child’s daily life, then we will help you to undergo an intensive treatment program that involves 2-7 sessions per week that may last several hours at a time. Research shows that this will give your child the best chance to overcome OCD.

LEARN MORE

For more detailed information about OCD and the science behind the treatments that AATC offers, please click here:
Ocfoundation.org
OCDChicago.org
Adaa.org