I am sorry I missed it. I would have liked to have seen it. My DS has severe OCD and has been on Paxil for 12 years to help control it. He use to wash his hands so many times they bled. And it would take him an hour and half to put his shoes on because he kept taking them and his socks on and off because they weren't perfect.

He has it all his life but wasn't diagnosed till he was 13, when he was also diagnosed with Autism. If I had to choose a cure for one or the other, I would choose to cure OCD. It seems to be more crippling. He can't hold a job or have much of a life because of it. I am use to his rituals but they really freak out all our relatives when they visit. DH's brother who lives a 1/2 hour away refuses to visit because he thinks it is too distrubing for his young children to see. How's that for a kick in the head!
Clare

Claire - I'm pretty sure it will air again. I actually wondered whether it was a repeat. It was a dynamic testament to those that live with it every day - the patient and those around it. I missed the earlier part and don't really know the story behind the daughter/father situation. That really stung because that Father/Daugher bond is something that just doesn't break. It was a real tug-at-your-heart story.

I thought there may have been someone here that was familiar with OCD and was almost hesitant to post. But, after seeing the story, I thought it was important enough for everyone to know about. I can't imagine the life you live with your son. As I was watching the show I thought of all of the diseases/conditions out there, and said, this would be the worst. It really does take a Saint to understand and support someone in this situation. It's sad to hear that family members have difficulty with tolerating it though. The family that purchased my house - back, oh I guess 12-15 years ago, had a child with autism. He was very young - so precious, ya wanted to just snatch him up and give him a hug. Because of the disease, he wouldn't tolerate it. The family appeared to tolerate the situation very well. I was very glad to see that - I think about them often.

I wish you nothing but good, in your situation. I'm sure it has been/is, a struggle - for you and your son.

gneegirl

The victims of OCD suffer more than one can imagine. My DS went through a terrible struggle with it when he hit puberty.
Like Claire's son he probably had it all his life but it took over his life by junior high. He wasn't a cleaner or germaphobic, he was a counter. His number was eight. Everything was either multiplied or divided by eight, A "ritual" was to do something 8 times. if he made a "mistake" during the ritual it had to be done 16,then 32,64 times etc. He had rituals from having to reset his alarm,flip his calendar to counting stepping between or over shadows. We thought he was messy but actually he couldn't stand to have anything lined up or stacked evenly. It had to be staggered (one fear was "things" might get trapped beneath say a pile of books for example). He had so many "rituals" he couldn't sleep and had a hard time getting out of his room when called and finishing anything at school.

We were fortunate to find a child psychologist who was well versed in OCD and also in touch with a psychiatrist who was doing one of the earlier studies with Anafranil.

The first thing the psychologist did was have my son write a list of all his rituals. There were so many pages the doctor said my son had basically formed his own religion.

My DS was lucky. The Anafranil gave him just the edge to take control using the relaxation techniques etc. the psychologist gave him. DS started by just not doing one ritual.he was to choose just one and only one. to work on. Once he finally managed to overcome doing just one thing and found nothing bad happened, which fear is what drives the OCD individual he went on to another. By the 3rd he became more confident. Being an extremely strong-willed individual helped a lot too.

He stayed on the drug for a full year even after he conquered most of his rituals and habits.

Like I said he was lucky. We know the disease never really goes away and many of us have the propensity for a little OCD of our own. Fortunately he conquered it and his awareness of the problem has kept it at bay. He never relapsed ,at least not that one would notice and I kept a pretty darn watchful eye. I myself have had mild bouts of OCD in my lifetime. During times of stress during my younger days I would become a little too germ conscious so I guess that would make me a "washer". I also was a "checker". But mine was never bad enough to alter my life or almost take it away like it almost did my son's.

He met other kids struggling with the illness growing up. I know he always reached out to support them and try to help them Unfortunately several weren't as lucky as he was.

My heart goes out to you Clare. I hope that someday soon research will find something that works for more. TV shows like the one posted about are a good way to get the message out.

Thank you for posting Gneegirl.

OCD is a quite common symptom for people who have thyroid or other hormonal imbalances/disorders. iow, sometimes there is a physiological reason, not psychological.

I have just slight tendencies towards it, at times. I also have Hashimoto's and other hormonal imbalances.

I do believe there probably are physiological reasons for OCD, but I did want to ask if they mentioned or if anyone knows if there were triggers for it... I have a friend whose child seems to have some OCD tendencies when she is stressed out. And, I surely don't mean to imply it with the previously posters, but "can" it be associated with emotional abuse or is it strickly a disease that just happens like autism?

Thanks for the kind thoughts and words. I think OCD is genetic. DH has it but a lot less then DS and he can control it with will power. DS can't control it because of his Autism. DH's mother has it bad but refuses to admit it. There is a good book on OCD called "Brain Lock". It really helped DH deal with his and it was interesting to read. It helped me to understand it. I don't have it myself, so it was hard to wrap my mind around it.
Clare

Here is a link that might be useful: Brain Lock

I believe it's genetic also.

Never knew anyone with OCD that didn't feel that stress was a definite trigger. At least stress can trigger the severity of it. It is always there.

To say thyroid is a link is a stretch. Since both hormonal issues (especially amongst women) and OCD are so prevalent in our population of course you will find many individuals with both. That doesn't mean one causes the other. But hormonal imbalance can make it harder to dealer with brain chemistry disorders just as it makes it hard to deal with other plain old everyday issues.

O.C.D. definitely has a genetic link, although I'm sure it can also be like breast cancer and occur in people with no known relatives that have it. My sister has had it since childhood, although neither myself nor my other 5 siblings, nor either parent, had it. Although we thought my sister was a rarity, we discovered at family reunions over the years that 6 of our cousins have it, among 42, although only 2 are siblings in the same family. So there is definitely a genetic component within our family tree.
When we were kids, O.C.D. didn't have a name, and we all just thought my sister was kooky because of her habit of constantly counting and checking and avoiding certain things. After her first pregnancy it became so bad it was ruining her life, so she confided in her doctor because she thought she was losing her mind. Luckily her doctor had just learned about O.C.D. and got her on Anafranil, which was the first drug used for treatment many years ago. It worked well to help curb her symptoms, but gave her side effects that were just as bad, so she lived for a number of years in agony until they began using anti-depressant medication to treat O.C.D. After trying several, she found one that allows her to live a pretty normal life, and has been on that one ever since. One of her four children also has O.C.D., but in a mild form.

My youngest child, now 19, began showing symptoms at age 6, and I dreaded what might lie ahead. Unfortunatley, by age 11 it was really getting bad, but he forced himself to cope without medication because he was hoping if he could get through puberty without any, that his symptoms might abate. However by age 15 my honour roll student was suffering so badly that he could no longer concentrate long enough to read or write for school assignments, so his doctor insisted it was time for medication. He went through several and finally found some alleviation of his symptoms with the fourth drug he tried, which happens to be the same one that works for my sister. So if any of you have kids with severe enough O.C.D. to require medication, please don't give up if the first or second drug doesn't work. My son is a happy testament to the old addage "if at first you don't succeed, try, try, again."

"wildchild - To say thyroid is a link is a stretch."

Well, it's not like I grabbed that idea out of the air. If you check the internet, there are many studies that support the idea that thyroid is a link to mental disorders.

The link provided is just one for example:

Here is a link that might be useful: Hypothyroidism and Psychosis

Dee I read the report you linked to. So what it basically says was that the meds for the subject's Psychosis did not work when he was taken off his thyroid medication.

That would make sense since the thyroid affects most every area of the body in one way or another.

Nowhere is it concluded that thyroid malfunction causes or increases the incidence of OCD.

Only that a ill performing thyroid can sabotage the body's ability to respond well to the other meds.

It's an interesting study but completely inconclusive other than the subject needed all of his medications to remain as physically and mentally in balance as possible.

So the study shows that if one is hypothyroid better not stop the thyroid meds. Pretty much a "well duh" conclusion IMHO.

My DD has some very slight OCD tendencies and takes Lexipro to control them. It has made a big difference. I can't even imagine what it would be like to live with severe OCD.

Alright, I'm gonna come out of the OCD closet right now. I have an OCD. I also watched the show about the children and I cried throughtout the entire thing... because I felt bad for these kids and because I saw myself in them at that age.... and still. I know how horrific it is, how debilitating it is. I have been this way since the age of 8 and I am now 48.... Have never been to an MD because when I did go (yrs. ago), he embarrassed me and told me I just needed to stop was I was doing because only crazy people did it. I was about 16 at the time and my parents thought it was 'just something I did'... some quirk. Yeah, right. I never went back to see any doctor and chose to live with my problem. Today, it's no big deal anymore to me. I live with it, manage it as much as I can, and though still embarrassing at times, I couldn't care less... I'm too old to care any more. After 40 yrs.... who the heck cares. I do it when I'm stressed, scared or upset. Mostly, I'm not even aware I'm doing it! I have been able to stop a few times and become 'normal' for a short while. In order to accomplish this, I have to focus sooo much on my condition and be so aware of what I'm doing all the time that it's exhausting. It's draining. Have any of you seen the tv program Obsession (I think that's the name)? Well, a few people have been shown on this program with my condition.... What is it? Trichotillomania. Mine is not as severe as the people I've seen on the show. I have a head full of hair. Eyebrows and eyelashes are a different story...... Wow. I've never shared this with anyone. You see, people either don't notice or if they do, don't mention it so I've never had to speak about it. Anyway, for what it's worth, yes, OCD is a chemical imbalance in the brain and I believe mine is genetic. I have the book Brain Lock. Can't say it has or hasn't helped. My condition is always there, sometimes worse than others. I am a slave to it most of the time but like I said before... it's such a huge part of me now that I really don't care to get better now. It's almost like it's too late....

Orie I'm sorry to hear you struggle with this. One a horrble, horrible thing for a "doctor" to say. But back then many people who suffered from OCD was misdiagnosed as schizophrenics and locked away so maybe the idiot did you a favor.

One of the Red Hat ladies in my group has the same condition. We don't talk about it very much but she is very open about why she wears her hair in a "buzz cut". That was her solution to the problem. LOL I say LOL because she always chuckles about it (her creative solution) herself when it comes up.

Orie, Not sure what I am, or am not, supposed to say after reading your post. As I said when I started this thread, I do know some people with OCD - each has different systems. As I sit here thinking about some comforting thoughts, I really cannot think of anything other than to send you a hug and send you miles of smiles. So I will do that, as you truly deserve that. I would also like to thank you for "coming out" as you say. So many people could probably benefit from hearing your story. Thank you so much for being so candid. I will also say, it might be a good thing to try talking to a Dr. again - times are different now.

Thanks for the kind words, guys. It's not really a big issue for me anymore. Like I said, I've accepted it and I'll take it to my grave. Wildchild, I chuckle too, at your friends' creativeness. I don't have to be creative anymore because I really don't grow much hair in those places now... and I don't pull from anywhere else! I remember being 'creative' when I was younger, though. Thank God, my OCD doesn't involve the hair anywhere else. Like I said, got a head full. I think it's an amazing thing, this disorder.... Those of us with trichotillomania obviously have the same disorder yet we 'pull' from different places. I only do eyebrows and lashes but have known others that do their heads (to the point of going bald) and others do the hair on arms, legs and..... other places. Wicked thing it is! I have run into other women... one was at furniture store and the other at the Physical Therapist office where I used to work. Neither said they had the problem but we 'pullers' can spot another 'puller' a mile away! Yet, I have had friend's for yrs. who one day, out of the blue, discovered my problem. How do you not notice? I guess I can pick one out because I'm one of them, too. Here's wishing for peace to all those with OCD and many other diseases that make mine look like the common cold! Hugs to you all.