- Date posted
- 6y
- Date posted
- 6y
Hi. My daughter has an anxiety disorder too (prob OCD). She begged us to homeschool her for a long time. We didn't. Occupational Therapy, CBT and Agressive ERP improved her condition in as little as 2 months.
- Date posted
- 6y
Interesting, my daughter has the same fears. My Therapist (OCD specialist) told me that it is way easier to treat children because the reward system is broader with them. I had my daughter listen to vomit and diarrhea sounds in exchange of some toys, candy, etc. She endured the ERP valiantly- she cried a lot but she overcame her fears in just a couple of weeks. Wish you the best!
- Date posted
- 6y
Hi I work in a school! My advice would be to not homeschool her, it may seem like you’re doing her a favour but it could encourage her to become more recluse and could even make her OCD worse. It would make her feel better in the short term but not long term :(
- Date posted
- 6y
Hello, as a person who has struggled with OCD for many years I have to agree with the comments above. OCD is a very isolating disorder and I think one big con of homeschooling is that it could potentially make things worse by not being around other people as much therefore having more time to think and get lost in OCD.
- Date posted
- 6y
I agree. I have high functioning autism and ocd. The ocd decided to plague me in the 10th grade. Doctors felt that I should be homeschooled, so that's what we did. I was relieved and grateful at the time, but now in my adulthood, I think it made it worse! I regret it.
- Date posted
- 6y
Sounds like a difficult situation, and I relate in my own way. The aim is to be integrated and to manage OCD in normal situations. OCD loves isolation and lack of routine. These are perfect conditions for it to survive. Many sufferers of OCD learn to manage their conditions and go on to be highly successful in their careers. Careers which involve skillfully interacting with people. School can be a golden opportunity to develop these skills. Sometimes what seems like the easiest option is actually the hardest option long term.
- Date posted
- 6y
Thanks for your feedback. It is good to hear from different perspectives on this matter. Agree that going to school and using the tools she is learning through ERP and CBT will help her to keep OCD down by exposing her to her fears (which is getting sick, vomit, nausea, symptoms of stomach virus,etc) & also enable her to make connections with friends. Maybe homeschooling would be more of a “reassurance” for her ocd and make it harder for her to adjust to real world when she becomes an adult. Thanks for your input.
- Date posted
- 6y
My daughter also sees an ocd specialist and “graduated” therapy after 9 months of intensive ERP. She also watched vomit videos, ate vomit jelly beans, had to eat lots of “rich” fried foods or sweets she associated with stomach aches, ride in the car on windy roads, etc. Her therapist also had us use a point tracker system where she would earn rewards. After a few months of “graduating” and shrinking her ocd, her ocd really started bugging her again & so we went back for a “tune up” as her doctor called it. She is currently in therapy especially with the new school year starting. May I ask how old your daughter is and does she have days when her ocd flares up? When does it flare up the most? For mine, it’s sometimes but not all the time: school days, going to her extra curricular activities, sometimes when she goes to a friends house, or sometimes eating out. It’s definitely been a challenge for our whole family but we’ve learned how to deal with it and also help her too.
- Date posted
- 6y
I am glad she has had the help of an OCD specialist. - Kudos to you for providing her with the best treatment possible. I wish my parents had done the same for me when I was a child, but they were not even aware. My daughter is 8. So far her obsessions have not been bothering her, actually she says that she is cured - haha. However she worries a lot about minor stuff when she is under a lot of stress (school plus piano lessons plus language lessons). I feel that since I have OCD (She hasn't been officially diagnosed with OCD only anxiety) I can tell when she is spending a lot of time in her head and I call her out on it. We talk a lot and she tells me her fears and worries - I validate them and we work on relaxation techniques and other CBT practices she learned in OT. I am constantly observing her attitude towards things and call out on her "bully". She does the same thing with me - Lol. We have agreed that we won't let 'our bullies' manage our lives. - The thing with anxiety disorders is that every day should be training day and watching for "minor" behaviours that can be a teaching opportunity.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 23w
Hello! What a journey this ocd thing is! After 17 years with one therapist, I knew I was no longer making progress, so I changed to a new therapist. After just 6 months with her, she suggested I might have ocd and to look into getting diagnosed. She was right and I was diagnosed with ocd last summer. Meds are making a big difference but I still have lots of unlearning and re-learning to do. I’ve been struggling with whether or not to switch to a therapist who specializes in ocd. I have no issues with my current therapist, but she doesn’t specialize in ocd and I sometimes think I need someone who does specialize in it. But of course, I have Pure O, so I can think myself in circles til the cows come home. Can anyone share experience about switching to a therapist who specializes in ocd?
- Date posted
- 20w
I had avoided a lot with school specifically, but I did do it in other areas of life as well. School for some reason has been the biggest trigger that sends me into avoidance and it has been for the longest time. Does anybody relate? If so, what did you do to help besides therapy? In high school I used to sit in the bathroom stalls for hours so I could avoid going to classes. I was struggling to keep up because my OCD makes me perfect my school work so much so to the point where I’d never turn it in because I’d never be satisfied with what I’d produce. I’d get so incredibly frustrated with myself and the fact that I could never meet my own standards, never mind the rubrics given. I took ages analyzing all my writing, all my answers, all my google slides and I burnt myself out. So I stopped trying. I stopped turning in work because I’d never be satisfied. I’d cry because I felt I wasn’t good enough. Then I’d be missing assignments, getting them done but not submitting them because I was too ashamed. So, I avoided classes because I’d be in trouble or be called out for not getting anything done. Unfortunately this habit bled into my first year of college last year, and OCD coupled up with depression, made going to the dining hall and attending classes even worse. So I avoided it all together. It’s so hard being a freshman in college, so so hard. I unfortunately failed out of that school but I tried to medically withdraw either semester. No, I wasn’t partying, or drinking or smoking or hanging with the wrong people. I was a college freshman struggling with ocd and depression. I’m trying to not make excuses for myself either because I’m well aware this is my fault and I’m trying to reverse it now at community college. Right now I’m trying to get those Fs turned into Ws from my old school so I can fix my gpa. I want to transfer, I want to be a forensic psychologist, I want to be independent, I want to be ok. It’s gonna take me so long to transfer from community college but that’s on me. I’m willing to put in the work. I’m so embarassed, please help me.
- Date posted
- 12w
My little sister is 13 we’ve taken her to a child psychologist and she was diagnosed with OCD and social anxiety and I believe germaphobia. The psychologist said that he can’t properly diagnose her with autism until her anxiety symptoms are treated. But I am very positive that she is also autistic as I am autistic and know the symptoms vary well. She was given a medication at a low dose, I don’t remember what kind, she had been taking it even tho she did not want to for a couple of months. It seemed to be helping her anxiety immensely but I believe she is scared of how the medication changes how she feels and she doesn’t like the taste. So they switched medications and that one was even worse because the taste was too strong she didn’t even try it for more than a day so there’s no way of knowing if that one was better for her or not. These are both liquid medications btw we used juice for her to drink it. Since then she hasn’t taken any medication and she has said that she doesn’t want to. We can’t force her to take the medication as that would obviously be counter productive. But since then her ocd and germaphobia have gotten progressively worse. On top of not wanting medication she doesn’t like the idea of using any coping skills like deep breaths or breathing exercises to calm down and doesn’t like the idea when I talk about ERP or therapy or any kind of treatment that could help. It seems all the ideas either make her uncomfortable or scare her. I fear somewhat that my own ocd compulsions have made her think that this is normal and doesn’t need treatment and I don’t know what to do to help understand that treatment and change isn’t scary. I also fear that I’m not approaching this right and my mom doesn’t understand ocd like I do so I feel like it falls on me to help her through this and help my mom understand what we need to do to help her. I’m sorry this is so long. thank you for reading this. She’s really struggling and it’s affecting my own mental health too and I don’t know what to do. If anyone has any tips or advice please that’s all I’m asking for.
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