OCD
What is OCD?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a condition that causes kids to have unwanted thoughts, feelings, and fears. These are called obsessions, and they can make you feel anxious. To relieve the obsessions and anxiety, OCD leads you to do things called behaviours or compulsions (also called rituals).
What Are Obsessions?
Obsessions are fears that kids with OCD can't stop thinking about. They may realize their thoughts don't make sense, but they still feel anxious about certain things.
These fears might include whether:
- they, or someone else, will get sick, hurt, or die
- they said a bad word, had a bad thought, or made a mistake
- they have broken a rule, done a bad thing, or sinned
- something is clean, dirty, or germy
- something is straight, even, or placed in an exact way
- something is lucky or unlucky, bad or good, safe or harmful
What Are Compulsions?
Compulsions (rituals) are behaviors that if you hve OCD you will do repeatedly. OCD causes you to feel that you have to do rituals to "make sure" things are clean, safe, in order, even, or just right. If you have OCD, rituals seem to have the power to prevent bad things from happening.
Rituals include things like:
- washing and cleaning
- often erasing things, re-writing, re-doing, or re-reading
- repeating a word, phrase, or question much more than necessary
- going in and out of doorways several times in a row
- checking to make sure a light is off, a door is locked, or checking and re-checking homework
- touching or tapping a certain number of times, or a set way
- having things in a specific order
- counting to a certain 'good' number, avoiding "unlucky" numbers
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OCD
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