To think this could be OCD ?

[Designerenvy]

My 12 year old DD has developed a few habits over the past few months or so.
These include, playing with her fingers, randomly standing up and sitting down and have to do things in a certain way before leaving the house or going to sleep.
Eg : has to say goodnight in a certain way and we have to respond in a certain way also.
I asked why she does these things and she said it's to stop bad things happening. I asked her what bad things....she said like anyone in the family getting sick or having an accident.
She told me she says prayer too ( we're not very religious , so not Catholic guilt or anything ) and if she forgets to say them, she's convinced something bad will happen but compensates by rubbing her hands .
She listed a few other things she does to stop thses bad things also.
Am I correct thinking this could be OCD or is it just her age ?
DH thinks it's an age thing , but I'd prefer to act now in case its OCD as she will be moving to secondary school in Sept and I don't want that change to make things worse for her. Am I over reacting?
TIA

It could be or lots of other things, could be a long wait for diagnosis though

I have OCD and yes, it sounds very much like it. Definitely seek some help.

I have OCD and would think it's much more likely to be an anxiety issue... By all means speak to someone, but don't be surprised if a diagnosis of OCD isn't immediately given, as from what you have described, it could be a number of things...

It sounds very much like ocd to me, I had a similar thing of having to say the same thing and kept saying it until I got the response I needed. I lived with it for over 20 years, until someone I dearly loved died out of the blue which kicked my ocd into overdrive and life became unbearable. I don’t think you’re overreacting at all, and fwiw I think it’s great that you’re aware of it and want to nip it in the bud.

The death eventually led me to try to seek help for my grief, but the assessor asked me to do an assessment for ocd and I scored highly. I then had cbt, and now can manage it well/without my ocd behaviours.

Thanks unexpected and hotpink.
She got so upset when telling about how she feels but said she felt a lot better after telling me and was glad I asked.
She said she feels " weird " because of this and wants it to stop. She also realises that doing these things wont actually stop bad things happen but she still cant stop doing them. If she tries to stop, she feels panicky.
Yes, the more I write, the more I'm convinced she needs help with this.
Would it be CBT ?
I would have to go privately I'd say cos waiting lists here are huge for any services.

Thanks retroflex and muchtootired. I agree theres definitely an element of anxiety here .A close friend of hers was diagnosed with a life threatening illness recently and she said it's worse since then.
Glad to hear you are doing well muchtootired .

Sounds very similar to my son who is 15 and has OCD. It’s honestly so difficult at the moment. He had an emergency appointment with CAMHS as it was taking hours for him to go to bed after completing rituals. The psychologist said it was OCD, but he’s currently on the waiting list for help from CAMHS. It was just an assessment type appointment he had first after the GP contacted them. I would definitely see if you can speak to the GP, my son’s behaviours and worries just escalated SO quickly.

Oh YouFellAsleep, I'm so sorry to hear your DS is going through this.
Services are shocking and the waiting must be awful.
That what I'm afraid of with DD, that things will escalate with puberty and starting new school in Sept.
Thanks for reply

Bless your poor child, that does sound exhausting for her and so worrying for you. My DD had issues around anxiety and developed some compulsive behaviours when she was a little younger than yours. I would agree that a trip to the GP is a good idea. While we waited for a first assessment with the primary mental health team, we came across a fantastic book that really helped DD make sense of how she was feeling and gave her some strategies for coping. This is it: www.amazon.co.uk/What-When-Worry-Much-What/dp/1591473144?tag=mumsnetforu03-21 (sorry don't know how to do clicky links).

Good luck

It sounds like OCD to me, a family member has OCD and looking back it started with fairly small rituals which escalated massively as she got older.

I would say definitely seek help, privately if you can afford it. Wishing you both the best with it

Sounds like it. I started as a child with rituals before bedtime, checking etc. Is she stressed about anything at school or anything happening in the family? My parents were arguing and had money problems around about the same time. I think I tried to control things.

@Designerenvy, sorry just checking in now.

Since reading your updates, the anxiety she's feeling sounds perfectly normal, and her "rituals" are a coping mechanism, because she realises that there is so much she can't control in life.

Please be thankful that her coping mechanisms are manifesting in this way, I say that, because I was your daughters age when my "coping technique" was controlling what I could, my food intake. It was and still can be a long hard battle with anorexia...

Yes, it would ordinarily be CBT, which is most effective with a trained therapist, but there is information, self help books and apps online which may help your daughter in the interim period.

Being diagnosed with OCD is a long process, which can only be done by a psychiatrist. in my experience they want to medicate, medicate, medicate but CBT for anxiety, ritualistic behaviour, and learning how to deal with her feelings can be done by a psychologist, psychiatric nurse (often there will be a community mental health team) or in some cases group therapy sessions (I found this option worked best for my eating disorder, but I was 18 by then, and 6 years of starvation almost killed me) it was during the group therapy that the councillor realised how much my OCD "traits" were impacting on my life, and recommended that I returned to the psychiatrist. By 21 the diagnosis was confirmed, so as I said, it takes a long time.

Good luck, and I'm here if you want to talk more...

Sounds a lot like ocd.
A lot of my friends had little rituals at that age, only a couple have full blown ocd as adults.
It’s definitely sensible to get her help now, before it gets worse though.

If you can afford it, seek private help. There are affordable counselling services that can do CBT and can combine with a GP if medication would be supportive in relieving the anxiety whilst CBT works on the underlying issue.

This sounds like how my OCD presents. I have found Citalopram and CBT helps. Poor thing though it’s such a horrible Illness.

She will need help through exams, if she has it, when she gets older. I found I couldn't switch off and just revised and revised. I now have a degree but could have had help through it at the time which would have eased the symptoms somewhat.

Yes it sounds like OCD. Psychological treatment is the first line of treatment for children, not medication. Find a CBT therapist who is trained in a technique called ERP (exposure with response prevention). There is plenty of good self help available too.

It sounds like ocd and, more specifically, intrusive thoughts. The fact that you have spoken to her about it and she has felt she can be honest is a great start. Often people feel great shame or fear with ocd (generally a cycle of anxiety, fear and guilt) so there may well be aspects she hasn't told you that also bother her. Symptoms will often get much worse during periods of anxiety or stress.

You sound like a really great mum who has her daughters best interests at heart. Please don't worry about if doctors may or may not medicate - it is hard to tell from your description how severe the symptoms. A 'standard' course of treatment would involve Cbt and medication.

Feel free to message if you would like any more advice. I had ocd from a young age and still have it but live a happy and fulfilling life 🙂

Hi, sorry to hear your daughter is experiencing this. My daughter is 14 and has OCD, it started similarly where she had an intrusive thought about something bad happening then counteracted the thought by performing a certain behaviour or ritual. We found a private CBT therapist with experience of treating OCD and after 18 months she is so much better. She still has a number of intrusive thoughts (we all have them but most of us dismiss them and therefore our brain doesn't flag them as important) but she has learnt a variety of ways to manage the thoughts without needing to perform a certain behaviour. Have a google of Exposure and Response Therapy, I also found a book called Breaking Free from OCD really helpful and there's a brilliant one for young people called Touch and Go Joe written by a teenage boy who has OCD. Lots of luck to you and your daughter, you're doing the right thing exploring support options for her now xx

Prayers before bed despite not being religious was the first symptom of my OCD, looking back. My OCD has now moved past those visual rituals into a purely obsessive and ruminating disorder. Doctors in my experience try to push the anxiety and medication angle, definitely try and get her referred for some cbt and in the meantime, maybe try and do some mindfulness exercises with her to try and help her learn to ignore intrusive thoughts. OCD can be managed.

OCDAction and Young Minds are very good and helpful - contact them.

CBT with ERP - exposure response prevention - is the best way to treat ocd, but that will require your dd doing work to face her fears.

My ds is 12 and he has ocd - it can be exhausting. Good luck with it all.

Yes it definitely sounds like OCD.

The obsessions are fears about keeping the family safe (there might be others) and the compulsions are all of the little rituals that she feels she needs to carry out to make things safe. All OCD involves anxiety.

It's best to look for a CBT therapist sooner rather than later and OCD is most commonly diagnosed in the later childhood (10+) to mid-twenties age-bracket.

Thanks everyone, only checking back now . Sorry.
Lately the rituals are becoming more frequent and obvious. I've booked an appointment with a CBT therapist. We meet next Wednesady. I'm really hoping she can help her .
Dd has developed headaches over the past 2 weeks. GP feels its anxiety related and she's so distressed with them, so I really need to act quickly.
She's such a great kid but is overly sensitive . As I said, one her close friends has been diagnosed with cancer and this has really affected Dd .
Thanks so much for all replies and sorry for delayed response, I go through phases of being on Mumsnet and not , and I didn't think I'd have so many responses.
Thanks again so much .