My 7 year old is having disturbing thoughts..

[alleyezonmeh]

I'm not sure what to do. My 7 year old recently came to me about these THOUGHTS he has been having... Some are really disturbing... I'll give a few examples... One that really got to me is... he has had dreams/thought about cutting a girls breasts off.. What do i make of this? Another he was in the bathroom, went poop, picked it up and THOUGHT about rubbing it on his penis.

My son has always been a great kid! Good in school, and at home...  I believed in co-sleeping and it took me a long time to get out of his room, but i did about 3 months ago.  I am also now pregnant with my second child..

I really need advice.. I am at a loss! Why does he think like this? I've asked him if he seen something?

HOWEVER, he has played video games, not for his age, and he use to love horror movies, so i let him watch them... Now i know that those things are my fault... He even liked the movie jackass.. So could seeing this in the movies, and people getting cut in the games finally be effecting him?

I have stopped the movies, and we even stopped the video game, left 4 dead 2.  

I had thought he could handle these things ya know?  I contacted his doctor today, but i probably wont hear back until monday... and it's just really hard...

He comes to me crying about stupid things... like i think so and so is pretty... Like okay, and butts and boobs... sure he's a little young to be THINKING about that stuff... BUT he is a boy, and i dont know...

Im scared to take him to a psych, im scared of the effects it COULD have... and him being so emotional... I've asked him if anyone has ever done anything to him.. and he said no...

i dont know what to do... please help ...

[JimH68]

Not to be the PANDAS guy on this site but I thought I'd just say a few words about my child as it sounds so similar to what we've been dealing with.  Not just the bad thoughts (very disturbing thoughts) but constantly telling me about things done, "I put my middle finger up in my pocket,"  "I traced a bad word on my desk at school with my finger," "the teacher looked at me funny so I think I'm in trouble," "when I was 4 I did such and such," "my brain tells me I hate you, but I don't," "my mind keeps telling me I hate God," etc.  This behavior seemed to materialize out of nowhere and would last for about three weeks and then subside.  All was good and then a few months later (sometimes longer: 6-10 months) it would start up again.  When I say start up... it would literally happen overnight.  One day everything was fine and the next day my child would be coming to me every two minutes telling me these things and telling me about bad thoughts. And then about three weeks later it would just stop.  Went through this pattern for about 3 years.  We discovered it was "morbid OCD".  The Doctors weren't too much help (they did try though.)  Eventually discovered peanut allergies appeared to be triggering the OCD.  Removed any thing that contained nuts (even foods processed in facilities that handle peanuts.)  All good for 14 months, and then out of the blue.... BAM... it came back.  That is when I found out about PANDAS.  My child had STREP and had just finished the antibiotics when the OCD flared up.  Had no idea that STREP antibodies could do this.  And didn't even think there was a coorelation between the STREP and the OCD because my child was no longer sick when the "bad thoughts came back."  11 yro now and doing really well but I still hold my breath waiting for the next STREP exposure at school.  At least my wife and I now know what the causes are (hope there aren't anymore that trigger this that we don't know about yet.)  This could be completely NOT the case with your son but I just thought I'd mention it because there may be other readers going through this that might gain some insight into what is going on with their child.  Exposure to STREP causing horrible thoughts? who'd-a-thunk-it?  Only one flareup in the last 25 months- lasted 2 1/2 weeks -STREP related (tested positive for STREP, high Titer count.....the quick test at the Doctors office was a negative though -second time that's happened in his life.)  And one more note, many Drs. do not believe PANDAS is real.  We got some static from the Doctor when we mentioned it and had to pretty much demand a STREP test and the ASO Titer count test to test for STREP antibodies.  

PANDAS related symptoms can include:
OCD - repeating patterns over and over
Morbid OCD - Bad/violent intrusive thoughts
Tattling on oneself (even about things that aren't bad or that haven't even happened..."what if I do something tomorrow at school and get in trouble", etc.)
Tics - ranging anywhere from involuntary movements, blinking, lip biting, sneezing (the girl on the news who was sneezing 12,000 times a day was diagnosed with PANDAS a few weeks ago), licking one's shirt, hand waving, vocal tics. and others
Bed wetting, obsession with going to the bathroom every five minutes
Night terrors, sleep walking, nightmares
hyperactivity
separation anxiety
Obsession with one's clothes having to be a certain way, ie: belts, shoelaces too loose/too tight.

Above is not indicative that one has PANDAS just a list of some symptoms that can occur with this (sometimes it's just one, sometimes more than one and it can also be different with each STREP exposure.)

I have also been told that just being exposed to someone with STREP can trigger it (your child doesn't have to actually contract STREP for the antibodies to form.  PANDAS is an autoimmune system condition where the STREP antibodies somehow mistake the basal ganglia part of the brain as infection and attack it.)

I am not a Doctor or anywhere near an expert.... I just read as much as I can on this.  Hopefully an actual Doctor will read this and dispell any misinformation that I may have inadvertantly posted.  ....or maybe comment and verify.  

PANDAS rears it's ugly head at a young age (prepubescent), usually noticed by parents around the age of 6-7 but doesn't mean it isn't present earlier or that it won't manifest later.

Once again, please don't think I'm trying to diagnose your child.... I'm just trying to put information out there for anyone reading this who may be looking for answers (even if it is simply something to consider and then have ruled out by a professional.)

Good luck Alleyezonmeh and Please let us know how your son is doing....

[Katybell45]

My son is 11 years old and awaiting a appointment with a mental health doctor, my son has thoughts about family and himself and his dog getting cancer or deseases murdered stabbed or kidnapped and makes me repeat in that order over and over again,  he checks that if he places something somewhere nothing bad will happen , he has to have shoe laces at odd lengths but same on both shoes . He normally repeats in threes , he wages hands clinically. He has always liked routine and when he was five he had strict routine of hand washing and doing things at certain times , he had some trials at Xmas and since then has slowly got worse and mow is driving him mad as well as me is this o c d? Kath

[maroon123]

A related discussion, 7 year old with "bad thought" OCD was started.

[Sai387]

Dear Doctor,

My 6 year old son is always worrying about his thoughts and he is saying that his brain is telling him that the car might crash and we all die and on Christmas day he will die. HE is very intelligent but always worries about some thing or the other like we will leave him alone and go etc I’m really worried he is stressful from the young age. My husband is saying he is also like that at this age, is it normal, please help.

[alleyezonmeh]

Thank you!

As i stated we are going back to the Mental health place in Jan, to be seen by a psych.... Hopefully this has blown over... i personally like keep myself prepared for the worst, and am always like u okay? u sure.. and i bet its really annoying!

[JimH68]

I hope your scenario has played itself out and is over. But I would recommend getting an ASO Titer count to see if he has elevated STREP antibodies just to be sure.  If your son is fine now and the problem doesn't come back then ok.  Our child would turn around over night and all would be good and my wife would completely drop the issue.  I wanted to explore more but was told to leave it alone as he was 'ok'. It came back later on and went away, came back again and my wife finally said we need to do something which started the ball rolling.  It still took us about 2 more years to find out it was food allergies and another 14 months to realize PANDAS.  Hopefully these thoughts for your son are gone forever but if they come back then you should insist that his Dr. test for STREP and the antibody count.  Best of luck and happy Holidays.

[alleyezonmeh]

I actually took him to see someone last week, and they said i have nothing to worry about... He is going to be seen again, however it is more so him being really confused about things.....

i PRAY it doesnt happen again! its really hard to deal with! ( but i am due in 6 months, so who knows! )

[AllyPaul]

My son had some of this on a milder level. I read a lot about OCD and anxiety disorders, and we let him know that thoughts float in and out of your head all the time. It really helped to have my husband help out, and for me not to over react and reinforce it all. It comes and goes, and if it wer eat the level you described, I would take him in.
Good luck.

[alleyezonmeh]

It is crazy! My son has been better... Violent thoughts are gone... well, he isn't mentioning them anymore.. I am still taking him to be seen on the 15th, because it is hard to get into this place, and i want to be able to go back in case this happens again.. He is still talking about sex a lot... well not A LOT, but when he does say something it is about sex...

[needhelp8yrold]

My 8 yr old grandaughter is having a similar problem without the voilence, she told my daughter that she touched her 1 yr old sisters nipples last night and shes very upset and saying things keep popping in her head like penises and vaginas, she has constant questions mostly about the sexual anatomy, and has been seen using the shower head for self manipulation. My daughter isnt sure if its normal, and shes hearing a lot from my 8 yr old grandaughter because of my daughters open door policy with her to tell and ask her anything and everything or is this something that may need professional attention. shes also been caught jumping quick when my daughter went into her room and she had the family dog in bed with her. Also my daughter has a 3 year old who has been humping peoples legs since she was very young, what a diffrent age we live in!

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

You did a good thing for him.

[alleyezonmeh]

I did contact someone... He is going to be seen on the 15th of this month.. He actually WANTS to see a doctor, because he says it is just getting worse.. Hes so sad :( Christmas is 16 days away!!! I need my baby happy! Thanks for ur help!

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

No, this is not a normal response to movies, games, etc. The doctor (whose specialty is not mental health) is misinformed about this and you will be doing your child a misservice if you choose to 'wait it out'. On the back of your child's insutance card you will see a telephone number instructing you how to gain access to menatl health services. You can call this number and the representative will tell you about providers in your local area.

[alleyezonmeh]

i did contact his doctor, and she said to wait it out... and that it was normal because of the movies, games, and tv shows...

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

He is displaying signs of an acute anxiety disorder and should be evaluated right away. Such obsessive thoughts are typical of certain types of obsessive-compulsive disorder, but it's not possible to discern precisely what is going on without the evaluation. None of what you have described can be regarded as normal for a child his age.

[alleyezonmeh]

i just wanted to add little more.. its not just disturbing things he's coming to me with... He's been telling me everything... I accidentally put my middle finger up... i scratched my butt.. i help the cat upside down because he was mean to me... ( he loves his cats hehe)

I've told him the girl thoughts are normal, however not so much the sex things, because he is so young...  

he is even telling us about dreams that are silly...