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Child Behavior (Expert Forum)
Does my child have OCD or is she simply having control issues?
Answered by
Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D. - Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, Family Therapy, Crisis Intervention
Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates
This forum is for questions and support regarding child behavior issues such: Child Discipline (behavior management), Normal Child Development, Parent-Child Communications, Social Development
Does my child have OCD or is she simply having control issues?
by dogme, Dec 04, 2006 12:00AM
My almost 7 years old has recently begain exhibiting signs of possible OCD. She is obessing about the cleanliness of the house. Nothing seems perfect in her mind; especially her bed. She will spend 10 minutes making sure her covers have no wrinkles in them before actually getting into bed. She has no problems with other beds in the house, just hers. She is now saying that "cleaning is fun" and she "just wants to clean". When we set limits as to what she can clean, she gets extremely upset and stress out. It appears that she doesn't worry about certain areas of the house, ie her bathroom, but focues on the main areas (living room, her room, etc). She can walk away from not cleaning, but gets very angry with us if she doesn't get her way. Her pediatrician says she is going through a controlling phase, and this to will pass. However, when she screams at us and tells us we hate her because we won't let her clean, we get extremely afraid. I have taken it upon myself to continue deep cleaning so as not to upset her, and limit her anxiety. She has always been a highly perfectionist child, extremely bright and always wanting to please. I can't figure the why the sudden change? Should I simply let her clean to her hearts content and hope it passes? Setting limits doesn't seem to be helping...By definition, these behaviors are not full blow OCD, but can they be moving us in that direction? She has mentioned that her head is telling her to clean, and we can't fix her problems, but I don't know if is has caught on to how it upsets us so much, and has begun the manipulating game. We are at a loss...please help.
Doctor's Answer
by Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D., Dec 04, 2006 12:00AM
, Dec 04, 2006 12:00AM
Because of the intrusive thoughts and the nature of the behavior itself, it would be sensible to arrange an evaluation for your daughter. For now, if you can accommodate the behavior and if it is not interfering with other aspects of her life, there really isn't a need to interfere with it. If she has a compulsive need to clean, the compulsion will likely override any other concern - e.g., even if the behavior is upsetting to you. In other words, she is likely not behaving in that fashion in order to upset you. The cleaning is an 'effort' to quiet the intrusive thoughts.
