How to detect Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (OCD) in children
Have you ever noticed that your child acts repeatedly in a certain way, peculiar, in specific circumstances? Have you noticed that you repeat a pattern when doing certain activities? Are there certain things that you can never overlook, such as washing your hands several times?
Maybe this attitude that you thought was only "children thing"may have behind an obsessive-compulsive disorder, TOC. These types of disorders are marked by the subject's need to repeat actions or ideas in certain circumstances. In case they do not run, in them the feeling that everything goes wrong appears.
Confusion with games
Pediatricians calculate that the TOC they only affect 1% of children. Although this number could be greater since few families go to the specialist after observing some behaviors in their children. On the one hand, there is the shame of the fact that the child has this strange way of acting. On the other hand, the TOC are confused by many parents with a game that the child has invented. For this reason, adults let their children behave in this way, prolonging this attitude over time, which makes it more difficult to correct this problem.
Obsessions and compulsions
Not all TOCs are the same. In fact pediatricians distinguish between two types, obsessions and compulsions. These are some examples from each of these groups:
Obsessions:
- Dirt. The child constantly thinks that he can fall ill due to the dirt that prevails in the environment, such as certain foods.
- Fear of injury and death. This obsession stands out especially when children are left alone at home and think that the absence of their parents can cause some harm.
- Symmetry. In this case the children must have everything arranged under specific circumstances, in case of "disorder", there appears in them an anguish.
Compulsions:
- Washed. The child believes that it is always dirty and therefore it is constantly cleaned. An example is the constant washing of hands or teeth causing some problems such as the fall of part of the skin by continuous rubbing.
- Repetition and checking. The worry that everything is fine leads the children to watch everything. For example, getting up at night to check that his parents are okay or that his room is still ordered in the way he left it.
Detect OCD
Pediatricians indicate that in order to detect OCD, parents should focus on the attitude of the smallest and monitor if there is any of these characteristics:
- Obsessive ideas or compulsions should be repeated throughout everyday, during a period of at least two weeks.
- Obsessions or compulsions produce significant discomfort in the child who suffers, or they significantly interfere in their daily activities due to the time they consume.
To treat OCD therapies should adapt to the characteristics of each child. The nature, severity, frequency and intensity of the aforementioned symptoms must be assessed. At the same time, the level of development of the child and the impact that the disorder may have on the daily life of the patient and the family must be taken into account.
Pediatricians remember that there are two types of treatment demonstrated as effective to alleviate obsessions and compulsions: cognitive-behavioral therapy and treatment with antidepressant medications (mainly selective inhibitors of serotonin reuptake). Other therapies can help treat aspects associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Damián Montero
