OCD early signs and what to do

[BananaPie]

Hello, looking for advice…

DS is 11 and quite an anxious child. He’s got into a bad habit of feeling particularly worried at bedtime. We’ve been trying to teach him some strategies to deal with it, and avoid overly focussing on worries at bedtime.

One recent development in the long list of worries is an anxiety about getting ill which is resulting in worries about having dirty hands and fairly frequent hand washing. We have tried to get him to apply some logic to this (covid hasn’t helped).

Wider context - my sister has OCD. It emerged in her mid teens and it has had and continues to have a huge impact on her life. If this is the way ds is heading I want to nip it in the bud early. Any recommendations ? I am happy to pay for private help if that’s the best route.

CBT is great for ocd. My daughter is the same at bedtime.

Thanks. Would anyone have any advice on how best to access CBT in a case like this? Either through the NHS or privately?

You can self refer for NHS CBT if you don’t want to go through your GP. I believe each borough has their own site to self refer, perhaps Google “CBT referral NHS” and the name of your borough?

But of course you can also do CBT privately.

Good luck! Getting him some help early is a great idea. I had extremely bad anxiety as a teen and I didn’t get any help at all. My parents pretended it wasn’t happening.

I wish I had a parent who was as responsive as you!

We paid a lovely child psychologist for specialist support for my child who was experiencing OCD. The best resources were this book Stand Up to OCD!: A CBT Self-Help Guide and Workbook for Teens https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178592835X/ref=cmswwrcppapiii_RANXQ83ZKSJSK69ASEPX
And resources on www.getselfhelp.co.uk especially the sheets on cbt and "the court case" which are evidence gathering. This website and it's free printables are used by camhs practitioners and cbt therapists, are very easy to understand and you can OU k the ones which your child will engage with and understand the best. Hope this helps. Good luck 😊

Thanks so much. I will look into the book. The link to the resources didn’t work though. It just takes me to Amazon.
Are you able to repost? Thanks

Contact ocd uk they work with lots of providers. Also try break free from ocd (the book). It’s brilliant. The best thing is ERP and not accommodating the rituals. You could join the Facebook group parenting children with ocd but depends if you think you can divert it quickly.