- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
Hi! I have OCD with Dermatillomania and Trichotillomania, and was diagnosed around the same time as your son. Medication can be scary, and your concerns and fears are warranted. If anything, they show what a caring mother you are. Often, though, medication is necessary for normal functioning in moderate to severe cases. After I was finally put on medication as a teen, I went from being a complete shut-in and dropout who spent all my time doing compulsions, to a well-adjusted college student with a 4.0 GPA. I can't speak for your son, but medication will likely also seriously help his OCD, and allow him to live his best life. Speak with your doctor about the different kinds of medications they're thinking about, and let them know about your concerns. Any good doctor will be transparent and explain to you in detail how each medication works, and discuss the possible risks and benefits, so you can find the best option for your son. I know it seems so hard right now, and it hurts to see him suffering, but recovery and healing is possible. Take it from me, no one expected me to ever recover, but I did it. Medication was the key for me. And sometimes, medications are not permanent. Your son may reach a point in his recovery that he no longer needs to be medicated. It's case by case. But no matter what, this is not a life sentence. Its the start on a path to healing. Things will get better, maybe not immediately, and maybe some days they'll feel worse, but one day you'll be able to look back and see how much progress has been made.
- Date posted
- 5y
Thank you so much for commenting, gives me hope for my boy. May I ask what started it, if you don't mind? If not I completely understand.
- Date posted
- 5y
@Mama281 Of course! My mother would tell me that she noticed a pretty sudden shift in my behavior when I was 2 or 3. I went from being a pretty easy-going and happy toddler to screaming and crying when the furniture was slightly rearranged. I started constantly asking for reassurance that bad things wouldn't happen to me or our family, and by the time I was 5 or 6 I was very focused on illness. I'd scrub my hands raw and constantly research illnesses. My mother wouldn't let me watch the news because every time there was an outbreak of illness or contaminated food, it would trigger me tenfold. I even got to the point where I wouldn't eat until she had reassured me over and over that the food I was eating wasn't infected. That's where the picking at my skin and hair started too. When I saw blemishes, I wanted to "get the bad stuff out", in case it was some kind of illness or disease that was going to spread to the rest of me (which isn't how it works, I know. It was comforting to the OCD though). The hair picking for me was usually entirely mindless, it was a stress reliever and I'd do it while I was ruminating. This all got even worse when I hit puberty, I started picking at body and facial hairs and would not stop clawing at my skin. The content of my obsessions changed a lot, too. They became disabling in severity and were focused on more existential and personal matters. I still picked at my skin and hair, more than ever. They were still compulsions, in a way. It brought me so much relief to focus on that instead, even though it hurt me. I'd say that was the point that the Trichotillomania and Dermatillomania really started for me, even though I'm sure I've had OCD since I was very little.
- Date posted
- 5y
@zomboney I thank you so much for letting me in on your life. I am glad medication has helped you and you are doing the best you can. I am still waiting on the medication for him but I have a better perspective on it. Good luck and keep it up!
Related posts
- Date posted
- 20w
I understand that everyone is different but lately I have been debating on medication just because of past experiences but does anyone have any good experiences with medication that has helped them with their OCD as well as therapy or treatment? As of now I’m dealing with it by myself but it feels like it may be getting worse
- Date posted
- 18w
My son has Pure O religious/scrupulosity with GAD and Bipolar. My son was diagnosed with Pure O religious OCD two years ago. He has to complete a task so that God doesn’t send him to hell if he doesn’t do it. These tasks are dangerous like doing multiple back flips on concrete, or jumping off balconies three times, doing MMA slams on his back three times. The thoughts are telling him if he doesn’t do this he will go to hell. Or he is so worried about blaspheming the holy spirt and loose his salvation. He knows this is his OCD. He knows the scripture and that God is one of peace and love. Been there and done that on quoting scripture and reminding him he is saved. I can see the torture he is going through and it is painful to watch. He also needs to be stuck next to me at all times cuz it makes him feel safe. This is impeding on my life as I feel I have a toddler again, he is 24 and a former 4 star football player. He wants this to stop, he is in therapy and working on it. He was free from these thoughts from November 2023 till April 2025. He is dealing with narcissistic trauma with his father and this triggers the OCD. My question is what can I do to support and help him through these episodes and not agitate him and to help him heal?
- Date posted
- 15w
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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