OCD in Young Children

According to kidshealth.org, approximately one percent of young children in the United States have obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). OCD may not be diagnosed promptly, as parents may not recognize symptoms and children are often too embarrassed to discuss them. However, OCD is a disorder that must be treated, as it progressively gets worse.

The Facts

• OCD is a type of anxiety disorder, characterized by incessant thoughts (obsessions) that lead to rituals (compulsions) that interfere with everyday life. Often, these rituals are repeated in order to relieve a child of his daunting thoughts. Young children sometimes have a hard time recognizing that their behavior is attributable to obsessive thoughts.

Causes

• The exact cause of OCD is unknown. However, the study of OCD has uncovered revelations about possible causes. In children with OCD, serotonin, a chemical in the brain, is blocked, which causes the associated anxiety and overreactions. According to kidshealth.org, strong evidence suggests that OCD is genetic. Therefore, a child who has a parent with OCD has a greater chance of having the anxiety disorder.

Symptoms

• Kidshealth.org states that the most common obsessions related to OCD in young children include fears of contamination, dirt, germs and illnesses; aggressive visions; fearful thoughts of harm being done to loved ones; lucky numbers; and obsessions with order, symmetry and religion. To combat these obsessions, young children with OCD will act by constantly grooming and cleaning themselves; constantly recount, reread, rewrite, rearrange, and recheck items; hoarding useless objects; and avoiding people and things that may cause contamination or harm. Some of these symptoms are characteristic of children without OCD. The difference is that these obsessions and compulsions are taken to extreme levels and consume great amounts of time everyday in children with OCD.

Diagnosis

• Young children with OCD are typically diagnosed when they are between 7 and 12 years of age. This is due to the fact that symptoms of anxiety are more prevalent during this time, as children are faced with more social stress. Children usually do not discuss their anxieties with their parents, because they are embarrassed. Also, with younger children, there is a likelihood that they do not recognize that these anxieties are what keep them from enjoying everyday life.

Treatment

• A young child with OCD will likely need a combination of medication to help control rituals and behavioral therapy to control the obsessive thoughts that cause anxiety. Look for a therapist who specializes in treating children with OCD. If the therapist feels that your child needs medication, she will likely prescribe one that inhibits serotonin.