My eleven year old son has recently been diagnosed with OCD and I'm wondering if you have any advice for me as a mother raising someone with OCD. Thank you in advance.

Omg!! You’re a good mom for wanting to support your son. No matter the form of OCD, all OCD gives us anxiety about something we fear, and that fear can stem from ANYTHING. If our brains can think it, we can be afraid of it. I think the biggest support you can give your son is knowing that he might be coming to you with seemingly weird and out of the blue obsessions, and not reacting to him reacting to having those obsessions. Remind yourself that the goal of OCD therapy is to get rid of compulsions that strengthen OCD: it’s going to be hard to watch him struggle when he’s denied that reassurance, but he’s going to be a lot stronger for it too. OCD isn’t a death sentence, it’s just another hiccup in the grand scheme of things, and this little hiccup isn’t anyone’s fault. Some of us just need to tackle life a little differently :) best of luck!

I wished my mother took the time to understand my problems and I want her to not think I’m crazy for doing stuff repeatedly

Try learning about it and learning how it affects him if he’ll share. Talk with his therapist about ways to help that aren’t enabling. Remember that even when you are open to learn and try to understand, there will be stuff that doesn’t make sense. Practice self care along the way. There are also groups for family members of those with OCD. Good luck to you both. 💜

Take him to therapy, and let him be open! OCD is scary. Always be there for him.

Everyone else has already given you great advice, but I just wanted to jump in and say you're an incredible mom 💛 for such a confusing and misunderstood disorder, it really brings me a lot of hope seeing that younger generations are starting to have the support system that so many of us wish we had!

Be as gentle as you can. Eschew punishment in favour of hugs/kind words whenever possible. The OCD brain self-punishes constantly, so keep discipline minimal and loving. This will also help foster your relationship with your son, making him more likely to come to you when he is anxious instead of turning to harmful activities, especially as he enters young adulthood. Thank you so much for asking, for caring enough to ask. Wishing you both all peace and good.