Almost 5 year old daughter says she is hearing voices

[ritacarmelita]

Hello, I have a daughter who will turn 5 in Feb.  She is extremely intelligent and gifted - her father and I both have very high IQs and she is showing all the signs that she does as well.  Her father also has adult ADD, and our family doctor says she shows signs of ADHD and we should have her evaluated with a child psychiatrist.  I have had a rather severe anxiety disorder since I was 6 years old, and have obsessive compulsive disorder, centered mostly on religious scrupulosity, health obsessions and fear of certain numbers.  Our daughter has been having some of the normal "fears" that kids her age do - the dark, monsters, scary things she sees on TV such as frightening cartoons.  She is afraid to go to bed by herself at night.  She has recently started attending a Baptist preschool that emphasizes Christian belief.  She has learned about the crucifixion of Jesus, which bothers her a great deal.  She "acts out" the crucificxion by standing on a chair with her arms outstretched, has drawn pictures of Christ on the cross, and asks me why people killed Jesus if he is loving and kind.  I have tried to help her deal with this problem the best way I can, knowing it is a complicated subject likely not very appropriate for a child of her age.  This morning, she told my husband that while she was lying on the couch last night watching the fire in the fireplace, she heard a male voice in her head telling her to hate Jesus, to not love Jesus, and to do bad things (not anything specific, just not to go "on the right path" as she said).  She loves Jesus quite a bit, and talks about "baby Jesus" a lot.  She told us that the voices are audible but they are "in her head," that they are a "boy's voice" and that they slow down when she is quiet but speed up when she tries to talk about them.  We are obviously concerned this is the beginning of schizophrenia or psychosis.  I developed OCD-related scrupulosity at age 6 after attending a Catholic school, and even now have thoughts I would call blasphemous when I try to pray, think about God, etc.  My sister also has severe religious scrupulosity issues.  This bothered me a lot when I was younger but I have learned to deal with it.  She shows other signs of OCD, like asking us to repeat things over and over until they're "right," wanting things "just so" and not starting bath water until she counts to a certain number, etc.  Given her age, what could this be?  I don't want to think she is schizophrenic.  We have decided to remove her from this school and try to separate her from the religious issues for a while.  We also plan to have her evaluated by a pediatric psychiatrist.  I am just so worried about her.  Can you offer any advice? Thank you.

[jchild]

A related discussion, My 6 yr old daughter is hearing evil voices was started.

[teenia]

A related discussion, hearing voices was started.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Your daughter's symptoms are typical of children who may be displaying the early signs of anxiety disorder, particularly obesssive-compulsive disorder. The obsessive aspect of the disorder, standing alone, can appear at first glance to be psychotic in nature, but this is not the case. It goes without saying that the strong family history of anxiety disorder makes your daughter vulnerable to this, though the family history itself does not guarantee she will display OCD. With a child who may display an anxiety disorder, religious images can certainly pose a problem (as they can with children who do not display anxiety disorder). It is helpful when the religious component of a child's life can be conveyed in ways that do not heighten their anxiety or scare them; they are at a time in life when they do not have the cognitive ability to really grasp what is being conveyed. It's a matter of conveying some very important religious content in ways suitable for a young child. If the anxiety symptoms are interfering with your daughter's mastering of the various challenges of a child her age, some medication may be useful. Talk this over with the psychiatrist.

[ritacarmelita]

Just in case you read this...she said that she heard these voices when she was drifting off to sleep, but when we started talking about them she said she started hearing them again.  Also, last night right around the time this happened she had what I'd call an "OCD attack" where she had to jump on her bed many times over and over because she said she didn't do it "right."  Also, someone at school told her Jesus died because of all the bad things everyone in the world did.  Maybe she is feeling guilt that she "killed" Him?  Just wanted to add these details in case they help in some way.