She is 5. She is diagnosed as autism spectrum - specifically anxiety disorder (OCD) and mood disorder. She has to tell me what imaginative game she is playing constantly...ie "I am the mommy dog and you are the puppy and we are going for a walk..." etc... If i am trying to do something else she just keeps saying it. She has a recent obsession that is driving us mad but we are trying to be patient and supportive. She has a friend at school that she has been talking about and drawing pictures and paintings for for about 5 days straight. We are ready to just run away but we know she cannot help it. She is ON meds and I cannot imagine how bad she would be feeling if she were not. (and us too!)
She tells me "I touched my privates" or "I picked my nose" etc etc every single time too.
You are not alone!
Angi
Wow! I have a 6 yr old son who is going through the same thing ........ it started with a thought about kissing the babysitter and every time he see a teenage girl he would say I want to kiss her but no then he would ay i want to kill you to me but I won'tand now it is washing his hands because of germs. He needs to tell me what he is thinking.
I took him to a psycologist who told me just tell him to knock it off well thatwas NOT the right advice it made him angry because he can't stop. my next stop the pediatrician who said here is a referral to a psyciatrist but I think it will pass. I take him to another Dr who says he thinks he is bipolar and cycling YIKES! and wants me to get a psyc evaluation....now I'm on to the 3rd Dr. who we have been seeing but honestly I don't know if she will help. I have been looking for strategies to help him through this and can't really get any so it has been learn as you go for me. I have been working on keeping calm myself and telling him its ok its just a thought and trying to divert him .
Please remember you are the Mom an you know your child best if a Dr tells you something and it doesn't sound right get another opinion . The best thing you are doing is getting info.
Thank you both for your input with this. I have also been looking at syptoms for adhd and ocd and was thinking of taking her to a doctor. It was said that they must have had the symptoms for 6 months to diagnose and we have only been having these problems for around 6 weeks now. I have just got a book which gives me advise on ways i can deal with the situations which i think might help and more to the point be the over all problem. Being a parent is far from easy and knowing how to deal with every situation is impossible, without text books and hearing from people from these kinds of forums. Thanks again.
I agree with Socgirl in both posts.
She does sound like she's "brushed with OCD", but it won't necessarily be a big problem for her. We are all approximations on the mean, and some of us are brushed with different "disorders" that we manage to the point that they don't become a huge problem.
What she is doing, and verbally expressing, sounds like OCD behaviors. My oldest and youngest sons had OCD like behaviors when they were 6. My oldest son became obsessed with turtles (this went beyond a high interest in turtles, he once moaned "I can't stop thinking about turtles!"). My youngest son has been obsessed with all kinds of things, and interestingly although he wasn't born when the oldest one was obsessed with turtles, he ALSO became obsessed with turtles. Brains, go figure. The younger one talked incessantly, to the exhaustion of everyone around him when he was about 7, he'd say I can't stop talking or my brain sleeps.
Both are very functional older children now.
I don't think your daughter is making this up, or doing this for attention. She is really trying to deal with what her brain is making her do. Besides seeking help, I think you should listen to her with patience. Best guess, this will pass.
i should have been more careful in my post so as not to cause you any alarm. She does not necessarily have OCD...which is why i recommended having an evaluation or at least speaking with your pediatrician about it. It could be alot of things ..maybe something, maybe nothing at all. But definitely speak to a professional. Dr. Kennedy on the doctor-to-patient forum often has good advice.
this sounds like the early stages of OCD. Her need to tell you everything she does is a compulsion that relieves her anxiety. So, when she says she can't help it, she really can't help it. I just finished successfully treating a client of mine, who is now 17 yrs. old. Your daughter's recent behavior sound almost exactly like what my client began exhibiting when she was 4 yrs. old. I would recommend speaking with your pediatrician about this issue and he/she should be able to refer you to a child psychologist for further evaluation.
Good luck