Intrusive Thoughts

My son has ocd and its been pretty stable for a while. However, a few years back he had intrusive thoughts ocd and could not be in the same classroom as this one girl who claimsd she was raped and told many stories of abuse. He also could not be in class while they were learning about drugs (like a dare program). Fast forward three years later(everything ok during past 3 years) and hes telling me he saw a picture of these “satan kids” sitting in the seat he sits in his history class. He had an ocd trigger and was going to cut class. He somehow managed to get through the day but when he talks about returning to school on monday, he says he needs to change his seat and his friend who used to sit next to him will need to change his seat as well or he wont be able to be by him. What do I do? Do i convince him to not change his seat or tell him to ask teacher to change seat? Help..i dont want to go back to the way it was three years ago,

Pontiac1!

Date posted: 24w

Maybe have a meeting with him and the teacher separate from class.

OCDNoThankYe

Date posted: 24w

Hi there, I am so sorry to hear that your son is struggling right now. I've had OCD my whole life, but wasn't diagnosed until this past August, so I can empathize deeply with him. Like him, I always "ran" and tried to escape when I had an intrusive thought. I would leave hanging out with friends, I would go to the nurses office when I was super little, I would leave the gym because I thought I was going to die of a heart attack. All it did for me when I left or changed my behavior is exacerbate my OCD and make it a hell of a lot worse. I want to emphasize that, if he isn't already, he needs to be in therapy with an OCD therapist who specializes in Exposure and Response Prevention therapy which is the gold standard for OCD treatment. He may find that he even has other behaviors or thoughts that actually fall under the OCD category. It is doing wonders for me and is helping me challenge and navigate the intrusive thoughts that I deal with. A therapist will be able to help him navigate everything going on and catching it "early" before he goes into another deep OCD episode is essential. I would highly recommend looking for a therapist who specializes in the above and ensuring that they know what OCD is and treat it with ERP as there are a decent amount of therapists who aren't properly trained in its treatment or identification. In regards to your question of whether or not to change his seat, if his seat does get changed it's only offering him reassurance as a compulsion which will only serve to exacerbate the OCD. If he were to not move seats, it would be an exposure therapy for him and he would see that everything is ok, but the only thing I would be concerned about is that he would feel so uncomfortable that he would get up and leave/want to come home. It sounds like he doesn't have the proper tools to navigate this situation so it's a delicate balance. Please, reach out to a therapist and get him the help he needs. Best of luck, and take care.

spelamarela

Date posted: 25w

Children with OCD

Is it common for children with OCD to have intense fears of certain things? For example, I was extremely afraid of tsunamis – I was constantly dreaming about them. Then, I became afraid of ghosts, robbers, war, the possibility that someone close to me might get sick or die, that I might develop a tumor, that our house could catch fire, or that I would grow up to be a drug addict. I even thought about getting a tongue piercing when I was older and was scared of doing that without having control, which now seems kind of funny. There were periods when I had different fears, but I always needed to ask my parents if these things would happen, and they would always reassure me. Although I don’t remember everything clearly, I know that throughout my childhood, I constantly had such fears. I remember ehen something was wrong with me (for example: i had headache) I immediately thought of the worst case scenario and I was extremely anxious. And another thing is that I couldn’t let go of a past as a child (still actually) Now I’m wondering, is this something every child experiences (even those without OCD), or is it more intense for children with OCD?

elro.elephant

Date posted: 24w

Can someone give me advice?

I’m not too sure where to begin so some stuff may be a bit scattered. I’d like to start with the fact that I’m not sure if I just have anxiety or if it is actually OCD. I’ve been dealing with these intrusive thoughts for as long as I can remember. TRIGGER WARNING NEXT PARAGRAPH Stuff like “what if my teacher just raped me in the middle of class” or “what if I pulled all my veins at.” Those are some of the more graphic and violent things but I do get lesser things like “what if I imagined that whole conversation” when I know for a fact I did experience that exact memory/conversation. I don’t like these thoughts and I don’t ever want to think them. If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated. I’m only 16 and I want to be sure about this stuff before I ask my parents to get me diagnosed.

Anonymous

Date posted: 24w

Intrusive thoughts

I’ve had many types of OCD, but I gained control over them over the years, but a new one has started to arise. Do y’all ever have scary thoughts about something you might do? Recently I’ll get extremely uncomfortable no matter where I am because I can’t stop thinking about “what if I screamed really loud in my lecture class tomorrow?” And other stupid stuff like that. Also, this one is kind of funny, but sometimes when I use the bathroom I pause before because I think “what if I’m actually in class right now?” I also cannot control the thoughts about past embarrassing moments. I know everyone does, but I will become visibly uncomfortable and harp on something from years ago. This happens all throughout the day. Also, does anyone else do things that resemble tics when you get these thoughts. Like when they happen I’ll curse under my breath or like jerk my head a little bit. When I’m in public I keep it low key but when I’m alone sometimes I’ll physically get up and pace or something when those thoughts happen. Just curious if anyone has had these experiences

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Intrusive Thoughts

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