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Child mental health

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Very worried about 6yo

5 replies

WheresBillGrundyNow · 16/12/2025 19:04

My six yo has always been v active and talkative. Just recently, she has started to talk incessantly. It has gotten really worrying. She must be anxious or something because she has been upset coming out of school every day for the last almost two weeks. At first she had a viral infection and I figured it was that. But since, her behaviour has been really worrying and difficult to deal with. She keeps getting upset and “confessing” to silly little things or thoughts she has which she thinks are “bad”. She gets upset about things she hasn’t even done like “I almost said a bad word”. She also asks permission for minor things like can I touch this chair/ blanket etc and has started asking to go to the bathroom in our own house. She tells me everything that comes into her head or that happens to her physically (I have a hangnail/ I scratched my ear even though it didn’t itch/ I’m going to blow my nose etc) She says she is saying things with her breath - I don’t even know what this one means. If she wakes up in the night she will launch straight into rambling like this. Sometimes she tells me how many times she has done something- I touched your cardigan six times when you left the room. Sometimes what she says is basically nonsense. I think she’s just looking for anything at all to talk about.
Her teacher has given me a number to call to speak to a child psychologist.
I am so worried and freaked out plus my brain is fried just from the constant talking, reassuring then back to square one. She also seems to feel like need to say precisely what she means and this means she talks around what she’s saying so much it goes on ten times longer than it needs too. She won’t give a direct answer to a question either. She asks me things I can’t possibly know like whether she did something on purpose or by accident.
Things are generally normal at home. I have depression and anxiety but am medicated and apart from sometimes being irritable it is under control.
I had ocd as a child though and I’m terrified and feel sick with guilt that this is it kicking in for her.
I am trying to be really patient but it’s hard because it’s making me really anxious. I’m worried about it plus I’m a sahm and I’m with her most of the time and I can’t get a single moments peace with the constant talking, questions and calming her down. Dh is finding it v stressful too.
Does anyone have any experience of this in kids? I just don’t know what to do. I’m not looking for practical advice about treatment etc because I’m in ROI. I’m going to call the gp tomorrow and the psychologist in January. I just feel very lost and I just hope someone with experience can help me understand what is happening. It’s so confusing.

OP posts:
Ladamesansmerci · 16/12/2025 23:08

Look up PANDAS. It may not be that, but I think it can happen after children have had strep infections. It can cause OCD type symptoms, alongside other mental health symptoms.

Otherwise, has anything happened at school? Have you asked her if there's anything going on?

Fedupsequin · 16/12/2025 23:15

I agree with PP, this sounds like PANDAS to me. A friend’s daughter experienced it and she really suffered with intrusive thoughts / OCD.

Tiswa · 16/12/2025 23:16

Another one who read it and thought PANDAs

Dryshampoofordays · 16/12/2025 23:17

No real advice op but it does sound OCD like and I can see why you’re worrying and finding it hard. Can you increase predictability in her daily/weekly routine as much as possible or create a weekly diary/timetable so she knows what’s going to be happening? Hard to provide consistency in the run up to Christmas but more predictability might help ease her anxiety while you wait for health appointments. Loop ear plugs might be helpful for your overwhelm if the talking is overstimulating and triggering you.

WheresBillGrundyNow · 17/12/2025 09:06

Thanks everyone.
I have looked up PANS/ PANDAS and I will definitely mention this to the GP. I’m not sure if it fits because she has had phases of similar behaviour before but this is much worse. Before I didn’t want to read too much into it because she was so small but it definitely seems an extension of that rather than a sudden onset thing. She is eating normally and her sleep has actually gotten better if anything lately. She just started sleeping through the night in the last couple of weeks.
She got really worried about her behaviour at this time last year but I put it down to all the talk about being good for Santa coming etc.
She loves her routine and it is very hard at this time of year. Christmas seems to go on for months these days.
It’s probably for the best that she teacher referred us to the psychologist. It’s just a shock because she has been doing really well in school and everything.
Everybody in my family has OCD. We get it from my dad. I think I just thought we were that way because we grew up in total chaos and if I tried my best to make sure dd had a calm environment and routine etc she would be ok.
I was very reluctant to have kids at all because I was so afraid they would be like me so now I’m just struggling with the thought that she might have inherited this from me.
Hopefully it will calm down after the Christmas when things have gone back to normal and hopefully the gp/ psychologist can help us to understand what is going on.
Thanks again.

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