Is there anything to help early signs of OCD?

[DaffodilTime]

DS is 5 and I have been so surprised how suddenly he started washing and washing his hands until they were sore and also in secret . He's so worried about them being dirty he doesn't trust them, refused 2 meals as had no knife and fork (at a party) and won't eat say an unopened pack of crisps if it's fallen on the floor which is also new, and was worried about being near a river he said was dirty.

I don't think this seems a 'normal' reaction to keeping clean and am really keen to support him if there's anything we can do to intervene early if needed. Would I start with seeing our GP?
Thank you so much

[NoHaudinMaWheest]

I think it would be best to see the GP. Those do sound like OCD traits and the sooner intervention is started the better the outcome. Although he is young and OCD type behaviour can come and go, I think it is better to have it investigated now rather than leave it in the hope that it will fade.

[DaffodilTime]

This is really helpful , thank you. I will ring them. Thanks so much

[NoHaudinMaWheest]

I hope the GP is helpful. My ds had severe OCD though he was older than your ds when it started.
I wish I had gone to the GP as soon as I noticed. Several things rang bells for me: the hand washing until hands are sore, the doing it in secret, not touching food, feeling things are dirty without any logic.

[DaffodilTime]

I actually haven't rung yet as DH doesn't want me to make a big deal if it but I feel so strongly want to help it I'm meanwhile researching what the intervention usually is and it sounds like the NHS can anyway take a long time.

I've started by ordering a book that seems to have helped a lot of children called What to Do when your brain gets stuck but if I'm still concerned in a week or two I do think will still mention it to the GP.

I've found You Tube helpful to as a doctor has a clip with tips that helped me. It sounds like giving OCD a child friendly name like Mr Worry or The Bossy Monster can help so you can address it as something outside of them to learn not to listen to.

Nohaud thank you for sharing your experience as if I'm still worried it will push me to still seek help and I've asked the class teacher to be aware but it does sound like carefully response to it is important

[imip]

Dd8 is under cahms for ASD and possibly OCD. I'm finding it frustrating as they won't diagnose until she says why she does hoard (essentially to protect her/us). Her hoarding causes lots of disruption to our family life and her, specifically.

For the moment we do something called 'exposure', which means we (parents) clean out our drawers/clutter so we are kind of leading by example. I read that car is very effective for this, so I'm trying to become less stressed about this. Dd's 'symptoms' started around 2/3 years old.

[imip]

CBT is effective, not car - dammit!

[DaffodilTime]

Thank you and CBT is something I was researching too as I was interested to try to find out what I can start myself at home based on it, if anything. I am looking forward to the book I ordered arriving as in its reviews it seems to have really helped everyone.

imip has being under cahms helped or do you think with the right knowledge you could handle it through exposure and patience at home? Maybe I should try both as I guess nothing lost

[NoHaudinMaWheest]

CBT is the standard treatment for OCD but in my experience it has to be delivered by someone who really understands how to apply it to OCD.
You can do it at home with a good guide especially if the symptoms are not too entrenched or complicated by other issues like ASD.
If you feel you want to try at home, I would go for it as the waiting lists for CAMHS can be long and they are not always very expert.

When ds did finally get effective treatment the course the psychologists followed is outlined in the book 'Breaking Free from OCD'. It is written by clinicians from the national specialist paediatric OCD service. It is aimed at teenagers so you would have to do some adaptation for your ds but that is doable.

Disclaimer: I am rather jaded about our local CAMHS. It took nearly five years from initial symptoms to getting effective treatment for ds and by then it was so severe he needed inpatient treatment. Only 4-5 months of that time was my delay in seeking treatment.
I don't want to frighten you - he was unusually severe and it was complicated by ASD - but I would always urge people to seek treatment sooner rather than later.

[imip]

daffodil no, I don't think I could manage this alone. I also think that perhaps we shouldn't. It's one thing to help yourself, esp as an adult, but not for a child - sorry. Like no my child also has ASD, and this seems to be holding back her diagnosis.

Hearing your experience no, I'm more concerned. I feel like this can be more effectively dealt with while st primary school than at secondary.

[DaffodilTime]

This is invaluable as i have never dealt with OCD before. I am also keen the school can help it appropriately which hopefully taking the right channels can help us with.
Thank you so much for your help as it sounds unhelpful for us to handle it in our own and I am grateful for your guidance and also sorry you've had a journey to getting the right help