Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in childhood: common symptoms

Although the movies and series sometimes present us with OCD in a funny or comical way, the truth is that it is a difficulty that thousands of adults and children have to deal with every day.

Most of the information we know about this disorder comes from adults, although the problem usually appears, in almost half of the cases, during childhood. Because? Very few children with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder seek help. They think they are like that, that they can't do anything to fix it. In addition, they often hide the symptoms because they feel confused or embarrassed.

• Related article: "Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): what is it and how does it manifest itself?"

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in boys and girls

Children with OCD suffer from obsessions or compulsions that cause enormous anxiety and discomfort, interfering with their development and their daily lives. Her behaviors are egodystonic, they prevent the child from reaching her goals and objectives.

But let's define those concepts.

Obsessions are disturbing thoughts or images (generally violent) that the person, in this case the boy or girl, cannot ignore, and that generate fear and anxiety in him. They are repetitive and involuntary, they interrupt the minor's mental activity over and over again.

Compulsions are repetitive, mental or motor acts, which are intended to relieve anxiety and discomfort caused by obsessions. Children self-generate this "solution" that causes only momentary relief, but in the long run what it does is reinforce the obsession, increasing its intensity and frequency.

In some cases, the obsessions and compulsions are related, for example, feeling dirty and constantly washing your hands. Other times, it only seems to be related to the child's mind, such as fearing that his family will be harmed if he doesn't snap all his fingers.

• You may be interested in: "The 6 stages of childhood (physical and mental development)"

Examples of obsessions and compulsions

Some frequent obsessions or compulsions in childhood are: praying many times, to prevent something bad from happening; constantly asking relatives if something has happened, for fear of having hurt someone; either the feeling of dirt and washing of the whole body constantly. Regarding this last obsession, a case that can help us understand the way in which OCD makes the child's life difficult can be the following.

Real case study OCD in childhood

Alfonso is an 11-year-old boy who comes to the clinic brought by his mother, because she is he perceives a decline in his academic performance this last year. His parents are separated and Afonso lives with his mother. Alfonso's mother says that he spends his afternoons being lazy (she can't prove it, because he works and doesn't get home until 8 o'clock); he also says that he goes to bed very late watching YouTube videos. So far everything normal.

The truth is that deepening the case, after many sessions, it was found that Alfonso did not "lazy" in the afternoon, nor did he watch Youtube videos, no he took advantage of the study time because in reality Alfonso had the obsessive thought that every time he went to the bathroom to defecate, he was never completely clean, for which began to initiate a stereotypical series of compulsive cleaning rituals which lasted between 2 and a half and 3 hours. The videos that he watched on the Tablet were nothing more than the search for information to find ways to go to the bathroom that would stain as little as possible.

Can we imagine the physical and mental exhaustion for an 11-year-old child to repeat a series of behaviors lasting 3 hours, all surrounded by thoughts, which cause him strong anxiety and which he cannot escape?

A more difficult disorder to detect

One of the differences between the obsessions of a child and those of an adult, lies in the elaboration of them. An adult knows how to explain them in detail, has built a story around them. On his part, the child can only express "just because", "I can't stand it", "he appears because yes".

Parents they may not know their child's symptoms to their full extent, because many of them occur in the child's mind and others are easily hidden or disguised. A mom or dad may notice that the child avoids certain things, seems distracted, inattentive, or irritable, repeatedly seeks approval or confesses to minor transgressions, or cannot tolerate uncertainty. But it is not usually manifested clearly, the child usually strives to hide it.

Why do the symptoms appear?

It is a neurobiological disease caused by the imbalance of certain substances in the brain, among which the serotonin. There are several variables that make a child more vulnerable to suffer from this difficulty, although still We do not have enough information to know the weight of each one in the genesis of the problem: genetic predisposition, a parenting style based on the constant demand for perfectionism, a stressful life event, such as the death of a family member... However, the data at present are not conclusive.

In children it usually appears around 7 and 12 years of age, although in cases in which there is a family history of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, it can appear even at 3 years of age. For his part, in girls the problem usually originates in adolescence.

The normal child population can also have obsessive thoughts and doubts, the difference is that when a change occurs in the maturational stage, these Thoughts are perceived as bizarre and the majority of children dismiss them, while a very small segment grants them a relevant and central value in their lives.

I hope this article helps to better understand the characteristics of childhood OCD, and to make visible this difficulty that thousands of children have to deal with in their day-to-day lives.