How can OCD look like in children?

For me, when I was younger, I had an obsession with counting syllables, and it had to end with 10. Also the layouts of rooms had to be symmetrical, or else it caused me a lot of anxiety.

I was diagnosed with childhood OCD at 5. I didn’t always have the words for it, but I would describe it to my parents as a big hole in my tummy. OCD in kids often looks a lot like OCD in adults because OCD isn’t a rational disease. I would spend all night rewinding a cd player because I believed my parents would die if I didn’t. I would spend hours with a crayon scribbling my parents names over and over and coloring hearts by each one to prove I loved them enough and didn’t want them to die. Childhood OCD is truly heartbreaking. A former therapist described it to me so perfectly: “childhood OCD is inherently traumatizing. A child does not have the capability to understand their thoughts are irrational, they only believe that their parents will die, and it will be their fault.”

I had it, even as a young kid. Back when I was young, no one knew anything about. Consequently. I was misdiagnosed for years.

i had symptoms since i was pretty young as well. my first themes were religious/existential/symmetry. i'm also autistic so some things like lining up toys or being particular about my stuff is explained by that. but i used to when i played video games (like final fantasy or other rpgs) all my items would always need to be multiple of fives and i would obsessively restart games. as for existential themes i kept trying to resolve forever, or was worried if my thoughts strayed i'd be possessed by demons so i would stay up all night praying so i wouldn't accidentally sell my soul to the devil