What is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Children?
All children have little worries and doubts, but when they can’t stop thinking about them and it starts to affect their daily functioning it becomes a problem. OCD is a type of anxiety disorder which is characterized by obsessions and compulsions. Sometimes ocd children will become worried by certain thoughts or images; these are called obsessions. OCD children might have disturbing thoughts of harming someone, even though they wouldn’t – and certainly don’t want to. The problem is that children with OCD cannot stop these obsessions no matter how badly they want to, which can be extremely stressful. Other OCD children might feel compelled to do certain actions over and over again, these are called compulsions or rituals. Even though the child might be aware that what they are doing ‘doesn’t make sense’, they feel extremely anxious if they don’t follow through with the action. Sometimes these compulsions are thought to prevent a terrible imagined event or outcome. In this case the child
