Recognizing OCD in Children and Teens

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Obsessive compulsive disorder is one of the most crippling diseases in the world. Millions of people suffer from this disease everyday. The disease, which is characterized as an anxiety disorder where the patient will act out behaviors in a repetitive manner in order to quell and calm the anxiety, can form at any age but is usually noticed at a young age. As parents it is your job to try and find these traits in your children. They are not easy as all children can have behaviors that might seem odd or peculiar but that does not mean that they have a clinical disorder.

As a parent you must understand that the environment that your child is raised in can greatly affect them forming the disorder. A child who is raised in an environment that is chaotic and full of disorder will often use OCD as a way to cope with this lack of order in their life. If a child comes from a house where parental figures are shuffled in and out or if the routine of family life is not present children are at a great risk for OCD.

The other determining factor for a parent is the behavior of the child themselves. If a child likes to arrange blocks in a certain order during playtime there is nothing unusual about that. If the child continues to arrange blocks to the point where disrupting the blocks will cause the child to be unhappy or to set of any anxiety, then there might be an issue with the child’s coping skills. This could lead you to believe you might need to keep an eye on this behavior for it could be something that is developing into OCD. Watching for warning signs and monitoring your children’s behavior could lead you to catching the disease early.

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What Is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?

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Unlike many mental disorders that are genetic, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is what the name implies: stress caused after a traumatic event. There are many different types of events that can cause PTSD. This could include being shot or seeing someone you love getting shot or hurt, being rapes, being in a natural disaster, experiencing domestic violence, being in a car accident, etc. Warfare is a very common cause for PTSD as well.

For PTSD to occur, you must have been in a situation where you thought you would lose your life or your safety. The situation causes fear, horror, and helplessness. The symptoms will be more severe if the situation was more severe.

One thing that is interesting about PTSD is the brain is actually altered by the experience. For those with PTSD, an MRI scan or a PET scan can actually show a change in the brain including how the brain stores memories.

With PTSD often comes of other disorders. It’s been found that 88 percent of men and 79 percent of women who suffer from PTSD will have major depression, anxiety disorders, social phobia, or some other psychiatric disorder.

Symptoms of PTSD

Flashbacks: One of the worst symptoms of PTSD is having flashbacks that cause you to relive what caused the PTSD in the first place. Sometimes this happens while you sleep, but for some, it can happen when you’re awake and you think you’re somewhere entirely different. They can still happen even 30 years after the event is over.

Emotional detachment: For some, PTSD can cause you to pull away from family members and can make it hard for you to show love.

Jumpiness: Sudden noises can cause someone with PTSD to have a hyperactive startle reflex (much stronger than is typical).

Sometimes PTSD is a short-term problem, especially if the event was mild. If the symptoms continue to occur and effect your daily life (possibly preventing you from working or having a normal relationship with family members), then the best thing you can do is get help from a professional trained to help those with PTSD.

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The Mind of The OCD Patient

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So what is OCD and how does it manifest inside a patient. This is a difficult question to answer and one that doesn’t always have a real firm answer. The degrees to which OCD is present in a person is dependent on the person. It’s not totally uncommon to have someone show signs of moderate OCD as a child but then show less signs of OCD as an adult. It’s difficult to determine the depths of a disease without a serious amount of counseling.

The truth be that there are many that function day in and day out without ever letting it harm their lives. The most severe cases of OCD will leave a patient confined to the house but more often than not it will keep them going through their lives with just bumps in the road.

Let’s look at a person who when they exit their car they have to do so with the help of a ritual. They must check their lights three times. They must check the doors three times. They have to say what they are doing out loud or they will not be able to continue on with the rest of their day. But as they walk away from their car they can’t remember doing the ritual for their lights. They remember saying it but they don’t recall seeing the switch turned to off. They have to go back and open the doors to do it again. Of course when this happens they are required to repeat the ritual over and over again.

So why do they care so much? The truth of the matter is that they imagine the worst case scenario of leaving the doors unlocked. The car getting stolen, or damaged, or in some strange way resulting in the harm of another person. This is how the mind of a person with OCD works.

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Examples of OCD

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There is a disease out there in the mental health field that is affected millions every day. Some in small ways and others in big ways but it’s making an impact. It can be as crippling as depression and leave it’s sufferers in a bind with no real way out. It’s obsessive compulsive disorder, known as OCD, and it’s a problem running rampant throughout the world.

At it’s base OCD is an anxiety disorder. It’s brought about by thoughts that can make the patient uneasy, fill them with apprehension and fear. It’s something that makes them feel weak and worried. In order to make these fears less worrisome they act out by repeating behaviors. It’s most classic example is the hand washer. In this instance they are worried about germs and so they get themselves so worked up about it that the only thing that will ease them is washing their hands. Of course this is only good for a short time because if the act is performed to perfection, if they haven’t realized that it is quelling their fears then they will have to do it all over again. If they were to walk outside the wash room and come in contact with a foreign substance, this could cause a chain reaction that would make them have to go back in and wash them again.

The problem isn’t that the hands aren’t getting clean and it isn’t that there is anything that will happen to them as a result but there is something in their brain that tell them that they have to wash again. The higher there anxiety level is the worse they are going to be about their repetitive behaviors. Even if the anxiety is about something else it will only serve to make their OCD more heightened. This is a problem all over the world and most of the time it goes untreated.

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Aromatherapy and Depression

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Depression, especially manic depression, is a condition that millions of Americans suffer from each year that can be treated via medications, cognitive therapy, or aromatherapy. Aromatherapy is one of the most popular treatments because it uses natural oils that come from plants to treat the symptoms and assist in a healing process. Depression can be caused by a lack of sleep and aromatherapy can relax the mind and help patients suffering from depression get their sleep back on track. The oils used in aromatherapy can also help to brighten one’s mood, but should only be used as a complimentary treatment that is combined with a variety of other treatments.

Clary Sage essential oil is used to help treat insomnia, anxiety, and depression. Basil is used to help treat fatigue, anxiety, and depression. Rose essential oil is used to treat the nervous system and other disorders. Ylang-ylang is used to treat anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Sandalwood is used to treat depression and tension. Lavender is used to treat headaches, insomnia, migraines, nervous tension and stress related conditions. Jasmine essential oil is used to increase the beta waves in the front of the head which gives the patient a more alert and responsive state of mind.

The emotional centers in the brain are closely related to the sense of smell, which is why aromatherapy is so commonly used in treating depression. Smelling the scents listed above can easily help patients suffering from depression relax and remove tension from their bodies.

If anyone feels that they are experiencing depression they should consult their doctor as soon as possible before beginning an aromatherapy regimen because there could be other treatment options available including medication, cognitive therapy, and other treatments. When using aromatherapy patients can do perform aromatherapy on their own or they can go to a masseuse and receive a massage to help with their depression. If the patient does their aromatherapy on their own they can use candles, diffusers, and other scented items to help with their depression.

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