What were your first signs of OCD as a child?

Yess, also confessing for me! I always felt incredibly guilty as a child if I didn’t say everything to my parents. And the enormous fear of losing my parents.

i had a paralyzing fear of tornadoes. i used to sob and ask my mom constantly if we were at risk of getting a tornado daily. when i told my therapist about this she laughed and said her daughter struggled with this too and it’s how she knows she had ocd

I didn’t realise this until later on but I had magical thinking ocd when I was little I remember riding my bike and I get a thought like “if you don’t go through that puddle your family will die” and another thing I remember I would the same things loads of times until it felt perfect like I remember I had one mat near the front door and one near the back door (garden door) and I would get a thought telling me to do that every time I came in the house about like five times or something. It always stressed me out sometimes because I HAD to do it cause sometimes I wouldn’t want to because I’m tired of doing it but it made me so uncomfortable that I literally had no choice and then when I got older it went away a bit or shall I didn’t realise because I would always listen to what my intrusive thoughts told me so it become automatic but I always thought I was quite odd but had no idea what ocd was until I become a teenager and started experiencing debilitating themes like health ocd/health anxiety and so

Seeing horrific stories on the news and freaking out

I had to pray a single prayer every single night or I would die in my sleep. So I was a 10-12 year old repeating a prayer like "I don't want to die please don't let me die Lord." And I would continuously say it allowed in different ways until I thought God heard me. I would say it loud, say it soft, say it slow, say it fast, say it with diction, mutter it, do it a million times and my parents were just glad I was praying, although they were very weirded out.

Mine was symmetry and putting thing's in order by colour and stuff like that.

I would do the same simple tasks over and over, or think the same thought/phrase repeatedly until it felt right

I was convinced something horrible would happen to my mum if I didn't have my eye on her always. I was also scared I was gonna develop an illness, and when eating I had to visualise each bite of food going down or else I became convinced I would choke :/

Mine was not able to let go of certain topics, alltought it changed frecuently, also, it's not necessary that this manifestet on your childhood at evidence that you possess it

I don’t know if anyone else had this. But even till this day. I can’t go to sleep without something fluffy. Either in my hands, touching my face or arms. I have to have something fluffy. It’s so strange

My mother told me that when I was a baby, just barely old enough to be able to walk, I was playing with my toys and every few minutes after completing a certain action with a toy, I'd run over and give her a kiss. One time I even came to give her a kiss while crying. I guess even babies recognize compulsions don't provide lasting relief

I was about 6 or 7 but there was a period of time where I kept feeling like I would have to go to the bathroom. Even if I had just went, I’d feel like I need to go again. My parents took me to the doctor and I didn’t have anything wrong, but I believe that was the beginning of it. Constantly anxious as a child. I also started having the fear of throwing up at age 10. Constantly avoiding people who’s stomach was hurting, and if mine was hurting I’d ask my parents for reassurance that I wouldn’t throw up.

I don’t recall much from my childhood and my dad can’t really tell me much either as he worked all the time as a single father raising 3 but I used to bite my nails until they were nothing, making a hiccup noise when I felt scared, I also went for a nap and recall this vivid image of my dad looking sad and I still remember it to this day, I always have to have fuzzy socks on even in summer and they cannot get wet, rub my feet together when I go to bed until I go to sleep, kept a close eye on my bratz and Barbie dolls because I had a dream they were trying to kill me I wish I knew more I’ll ask my mom to see if she remembers any weird behaviour, oh and hoarding hoarding anything and everything.

Thematically, probably symmetry or sensorimotor! Things like, I had to scratch the exact opposite side of my body if one side had an itch; trouble with matching the exact tightness of my shoes with laces; and then the thing that really tipped my family off was carrying around a wet washcloth if I didn’t have access to sinks, when I was around 4yo. What I remember was obsession/discomfort with a “sticky” sensation on my hands if they weren’t wet. So if I couldn’t compulsively wet my hands at the sink (say, if we were running errands), I started carrying a wet cloth. My mom, an RN, rightfully considered OCD, but I never had formal treatment. This was the early ‘90s, and my untreated OCD has morphed and grown in many ways over the last 30 years! Finally getting targeted treatment now 🧡

1. I saw a documentary on parasites, and was convinced I had a tape worm for years after that 2. I had to step on all the cracks in the pavement, each foot hitting the same number of cracks 3. I asked my mom the same list of questions before I went to bed each night