Intervention for OCD, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, starts with knowing the root cause. OCD stems from anxiety taking over part of a person’s life. Often this is thought of as someone with Mysophobia (a fear of germs), and them over cleaning their hands until the point that they are raw, but it can be more than just a physical routine. Anxieties can stem from anything and therefore an individual can create OCD routines of all shapes and sizes over their abnormally large fears of any daily task.
OCD effects both boys and girls equally although boys are often diagnosed earlier than girls. It has been observed in children as young as 3 years of age. Often proper diagnosis of OCD takes many years to aquire. In the U.S., approximately 3.3 million people have OCD, of which 0.3 to 1% of pediatric population and 2% of adult population. OCD is a brain disorder that may have genetic components. It also is believed to be effected by low serotonin levels and is possibly effected by strep.
Children with OCD will constantly be stuck in a state of fight or flight due to their fears. This is one of the first warning signs you can see. They might also have routines that help them cope with this behavior. When the routines are abnormal and the worry is effecting the child’s school work and friendships, it is a good time to seek a medical professionals help.
Intervention for OCD treatments normally include:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, CBT (recognize obsessive thoughts and behaviors and then use anxiety techniques)
- Exposure Response Prevention, EX/RP (teaches to relearn to process fear more appropriately and then find better responses to coping with it)
- Family Counseling (to provide everyone tools and knowledge to cope and understand)
- School Counseling (to help in the school setting as needed)
- Parent Training (to provide encouragement and tools to motivate their children to change; specific examples include: modeling, scaffolding, differential attention)
- Medication (to balance serotonin)