To ask if this sounds like ocd

[User47366]

Ds1 has the following symptoms. He won’t talk about them with anyone but me as he says it’s embarrassing. He constantly worries that he’s hurt someone by accident or that he’s been involved in serious crimes.

Yes. You can read about it here: www.anxiety.org/what-is-harm-ocd

It is great that he is talking to you, whatever he tells you remain calm and nonplussed. His anxiety will be on high alert to your reactions as a way of confirming his fears about himself.

For a lot of people OCD can be a passing, for others it sticks. The good news is there is a lot of help out there now:

www.nhs.uk/conditions/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/
www.ocduk.org/ocd/introduction-to-ocd/
www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/about-ocd/

Its possible.

They arent how ocd manifested in me (in my teenage years). But it can manafest in different ways.

See about getting him to speak with his gp.

Yes, that's OCD.

Talk to the Dr, and hopefully they get you and your child in via a referral to someone asap.

In the meantime. Educate yourself and your child, family. By reading many of the websites, articles etc on google. Just type in Harm OCD in children. Or Various other wording. There are loads of sources of support on there and also YouTube and books.

I have had various types of OCD since childhood. I was too scared and ashamed to tell anyone when I was young. So it really is a great thing that your child has opened up to you. There is help, hold on and things will get better.

Sadly my own daughter got it too, it had been mild and not too bothersome but she has increasing various types and worsening, so I too am getting her to the Dr for help imminently.

Natasha Daniels has a series of helpful videos and podcasts on YouTube following link: m.youtube.com/watch?v=MybK-NJPhGg

Also I loved Katie D'Ath who is a UK OCD specialist again short easy to understand helpful advice and information videos on her YouTube page: m.youtube.com/c/23katied/videos?disable_polymer=true&itct=CBAQ8JMBGAEiEwjE6K_mi9HsAhXwBgYAHf-NCek%3D

Good luck.

The character with OCD in The Casual Vacancy had similar symptoms. I'd never heard of it manifesting that way before then, but apparently it can happen.

Bryony Gordon the author and journalist suffers from OCD and it manifests like this. Look up her podcasts, or her book Mad Girl.

Yes, this is the sort of OCD I have, with 'memories' of having done terrible things. The thoughts themselves are not the OCD, the rumination and worry that comes after is. He will likely find that he is obsessing over whether it happened, trying to find evidence one way or another but never being able to, or if he feels reassured that one thought isn't true, another pops up to replace it?

He should definitely seek help. OCD isn't curable but it's manageable, my symptoms have vastly improved this year.

Hi OP,

OCD can manifest in this way, as others have said.

In my experience, therapy can be very effective so don't be alarmed by posters saying that it is incurable. With Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as well as Mindfulness for OCD, I have learned very effective strategies to use when these thoughts come up, so in some ways I consider myself cured.

I found out what I needed to know first by reading the book "Overcoming OCD" by Dr David Veale.

Not all GPs or counsellors are knowledgeable about OCD, especially the "harm" type of OCD. Therefore you sometimes need to tell them that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is the recommended treatment type.

I highly recommend that you ask your GP for a referral to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy NOT any other kind of counselling and that you download and take with you one of the information sheets from OCD Action or OCD UK, which have info on specific kind of OCD including what is sometimes called "Harm" OCD.

This kind of OCD is sometimes called "Pure O" as there are no obvious compulsions occurring (e.g. an obsession with germs leads to compulsive handwashing).

However some say that the "compulsion" in this kind of case is to ask for reassurance or look for reassurance that you have not done somebody harm (so your son may want to go back to where they feel that they have committed a crime or caused an accident, and this is the compulsion).

In my past, I have had well meaning counsellors try to delve into my past life experiences, as well as GPs say that "everyone is a bit OCD" and that "it can't be OCD because you don't have compulsions".

This wasted a lot of time and caused me a lot of worry and grief, and it was only after I did my own research that I was able to push for a referral to a CBT specialist. I didn't reveal the full range of my thoughts until I had been reassured that she had treated harm types of OCD before.

Good luck, and please know that the right kind of help is out there. The sooner you get help for your son the better the outlook will be for him.