DD, 11yrs old, having very scary thoughts

[CarolineCiara]

My 11 yr old DD has just told me (sobbing) that for many months she has been having scary thoughts, such as: she is too scared to be in her bedroom on her own as she is convinced something will grab her ankles. She says it's getting so bad she even has these feelings while walking to school. Lots of other things too, such as not being able to get in the shower without first standing still for some minutes in case "something gets her", only feeling "safe" on the third stair etc etc. I have done my best to reassure her that everybody has scary thoughts sometimes, and to let me know as soon as it happens, and that it's just a phase. Can anyone give me any advice? Do I take her to the doctor? Is this type of anxiety common?

teach her the meaning of the word evidence.

She must find evidence for all these scary thoughts.

So, if she thinks something will grab her feet - has it ever happened before? No. Does it happen to lots of people? No. Is there anything under her bed? No. Has there ever been anything under her bed before? No. Would she have heard someone going up the stairs? Yes. And did she? No. So what is the logical conclusion?

That nothing is there to grab her feet.

Keep doing this.

That's good advice, thanks. The thing is she knows that there's nothing there, but she can't stop having the thoughts and it's her lack of control over those thoughts that is really scaring her. But I will certainly take your advice, hopefully it will help.

The evidence search will give her the control. She must answer her own questions.

Thanks for the advice, I also thought it sounded very OCD myself which is why I was so worried. My nephew is a virtual recluse because of OCD. However, since our long chat she feels a lot better and hasn't had any more of these thoughts. I think she had got herself into a loop of thinking these things and just needed some TLC. It's such a stressful time starting at secondary school she had become anxious about everything. If it starts to happen again I'll definitely take her to the GP.

Definitly ocd, i had ocd as a teenager and it was horrible. Please take her to the gp and they will refer her to cahms. I saw a psychiatrist for 2 years and had to have medication as by the time i got help everything i did was a ritual. But she will get better and begin to think rational again.