Does anyone know anything about OCD?

[Jackie2kids]

I watched a programme on TV last night about OCD. I had this as a child (not as badly as on the programme). I can't remember how long it lasted I think Iwas about 6 or 7 at the time. My mum remembers it but passes it off as a phase and I did grow out of it, but I can still remember the aweful anxiety and also how tierd I got as most of my compulsive behaviour was at night (getting out of bed to straighten toys, look out of the window etc). Does anyone else have experience of this and how can I avoid it happening to my own kids. Or is it a normal phase of childhood as my mum seems to think? J

My sister has it really, really badly.

It's not something you can choose to avoid. If you have it youhave it. In can be controlled in most cases and the 'suffereer' can keep it at bay and live a normal life, most of the time. It's an illness caused by a chemical inbalance in the brain.

All people have sligh OCD tendancies. It's when it starts taking over your life it becoems an illness that needs help.

So I can't cause it in my children then? J

No, you can't.
Although if you have OCD they pick up on your habits. Liek if you line up remote controls then they might end up lining them up.
But you can't give them a chemicla inbalance in their frontal lobes, which is what makes someone driven by obsessive compulsions. They can pick up the quirky things you do that they copy and it may become a habit with them but no, you can't give them OCD.