According to experts, OCD diagnosis may be increasing among young people

At dinner, 10-year-old Clive Rodgers was afraid of bacteria at the table, so he wrapped his arm around his plate.

“I was really scared. If someone tries to move my arm, I’m really angry or do things,” said Clive, who lives in San Diego with his parents and two young siblings. Says.

Clive is one of many young people suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. OCD affects 1 in 200 children and teens. This is similar to the prevalence of diabetes in this age group. OCD is characterized by annoying unwanted thoughts and repetitive behaviors that respond to those thoughts, a cycle that can cause significant anxiety and interfere with daily activities.

It’s hard for kids who have to stay home all day, study remotely without going to school, and can’t enjoy normal social activities with their friends as the coronavirus pandemic rages. It’s time. Doctors say that such stressors exacerbate OCD symptoms, especially in children who were previously not particularly afraid of bacteria.

“Their rituals and obsessions are exacerbated because their general mental health is deteriorating,” said Susan Song, director of child, adolescent and family psychiatry at George Washington University. Stated.

Joseph McGuire, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral science in Johns Hopkins Medicine, said that fear of pollution and illness is common among people with OCD, but their concerns are a potential threat. Does not match. There is a real danger with the coronavirus that causes the Covid-19 disease. He has experienced a “relapse” of symptoms in many of the patients treated in the past and needs to be reviewed.

“In this post-Covid world, news media and scientists say this is a real horror,” McGuire said. “So now it’s like providing legitimacy to the intrusive and obsessive-compulsive ideas that have jumped into your head for quite some time.”

Children with OCD tend to think very rigorously, so new global hygiene standards, such as 20 seconds of hand washing, “have a very fine boundary between safety and compulsion,” Son said.

In the first month of the pandemic, some of her OCD patients reported that they were no longer anxious, Song said. As more people in the world have recognized the threat, the new coronavirus, they say, “I’m not burdened because other people are taking care of it.” However, within three months of the new pandemic reality, general levels of anxiety and depression have risen.

According to the International OCD Foundation, signs of OCD can appear in early childhood, but usually occur between the ages of 8 and 12 or from late teens to early adulthood.

Emery Lymphrack, Rochester, New York, was diagnosed with childhood OCD at the age of seven, but looking back, her mother, Amy Hatch, believes she had signs as early as three years old.

Hatch was obsessed with her mother’s safety, believing that Emerin would “roll her eyes?” And she would die each time the hatch left the house. Emerin was also self-harming and had suicidal ideation, her mother said.

“It’s pretty scary when first graders have these problems,” Hatch said, and “I felt very lonely, and so did her and her dad.”

Through therapy, Emmeline has been working on managing her annoying thoughts and behaviors for years. Now 15, Emmeline said she felt a big spike in anxiety this spring as her routine was suddenly interrupted by a pandemic-she seemed to “return to Square One.” She was worried that she might fall into forced hand washing (what she did when she was young) and other actions.

Emerin said her doctor increased the dosage and other patients struggled to adjust the dosage, which reassured her. “I was a little happy to know that not everyone handles this well.

McGuire said the annoying thoughts of OCD patients can start small and recover from the usual concerns such as “Did you leave the coffee maker on?”

However, after a person confirms two, three, or more times, the person may feel relieved, and then a cycle may emerge that relies on excessive confirmation in connection with other obsessions.

McGuire says they are forming an association in their hearts. And for some, this leads to “magical thinking,” in which they come to believe that certain rituals (such as hitting a tree three times) keep the family safe.

There is no single cause of OCD, and its neurobiology is still under investigation. Studies have found some genetic associations, but children may develop it if other families do not have it. In recent years, scientists have discovered an association between streptococcal infection and other possible factors and the sudden onset of OCD symptoms, but these do not represent the majority of OCD cases.

Traumatic events can also cause OCD symptoms.

Gabriella Cloner’s obsession began around the age of 11 after running over her feet in a car hit. It may have started with fear of crossing the street, and spiraled into concerns about her brothers, traffic, and crowds crossing the street. “The fear was widespread,” said her mother, Kim Warden.

Prior to that, she said she was a healthy and social child and had attended all honor classes. After the accident, Gabby was unable to participate in cheerleading due to an injury, but withdrew from his cheering friends and was generally much more shy. The mother said she almost failed the Honorary Biology course because she didn’t want to work with her lab partner. Gabby decided to take the class again, but as a result, Covid-19 brought him online.

Gabby, now 16 years old, says he stuck to the idea of ​​unknowingly harming others, even after asking others to say otherwise. And she began to wash her hands a lot because she felt, “I carry those bacteria because they hurt people.”

Her worries caused her to start knocking on doors and other objects made of wood-many. “I always felt like I was going to jinx and always felt I had to do it myself, otherwise I thought something bad would happen,” says Newmarket, Maryland. Gabby said.

About a year ago, a Gabby therapist diagnosed her as OCD, but admitted that she wasn’t suitable for helping Gabby with her symptoms, Worden said. Through her Facebook support group, she learned about NOCD, a remote medical site that connects Gabby and professionals. This is a more accessible and affordable option than the alternatives Worden has found, and the therapist also provides Worden with valuable advice on how to deal with the situation.

“I was relieved to hear that the therapist could lead life to success,” said Worden, who works as a 911 dispatcher.

But the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated Gabby’s annoying thoughts. For the past few months, she often sat in bed all day, fearing she would somehow hurt them when she passed by her brother on the couch.

But just before his July birthday, Gabby went shopping with his friends in downtown Frederick, Maryland. It was the first time I met her since the school stopped teaching directly in March. She bought two pairs of new shorts. The social interactions and activities she used in public, such as buying new clothes, rejuvenated her mood.

“It really helped me with the purpose of life, seeing, liking, and why you need to get out of bed, because you can really enjoy it, even with OCD. Because, “she said.

The standard treatment for OCD is called exposure and response prevention, or ERP, and the therapist helps the patient confront fear at one stage at a time. Some patients with OCD take a class of drugs that are also prescribed for depression, called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). In many cases, the combination of behavioral and drug therapies is most effective, Son said.

Song takes a “step ladder” approach to exposure and anti-response therapy, analyzing the different steps of a child’s OCD ritual and how painful each step is. Patients find it most comfortable to work on ritual aspects related to minimizing pain and are least upset about stopping-working up from there, Son said.

Both Song and McGuire see OCD as an external force that causes anxiety and disrupts relationships with others, and advises young patients to confront it. “This is the story of OCD. It’s like a talking bully, and we have to fight back,” Son said.

As part of her treatment, Emerin kept a “bottle of worries” for fear. She told her mother what she was worried about, Hatch wrote it down, and the two put a piece of paper in a container. Once, Emerin was upset by her thoughts and she burned a piece of paper. She stopped using bottles when she was nine years old.

There are many misconceptions about OCD. Emmeline is frustrating when used improperly, such as “I have to clean the kitchen, it’s a very OCD”. Emmeline’s mother said she and her daughter were passionate about being as open as possible about OCD.

“You won’t hide the fact that you have diabetes, arthritis, and other chronic illnesses,” Hatch said. “Why should mental health be hidden under this disgrace?”

Currently, therapists examine patients primarily through video chat programs, so they rely more than ever on their parents to help their children practice treatment techniques and combat unwanted behavior spikes. .. Children often involve their parents in OCD-related behaviors and seek validation. The advice for parents that Song helps their children with OCD is to have “compassion for the limits” and not engage in power struggles.

In the case of Clive, his symptoms began in late January and early February, and his parents worked hard for more than a month to seek professional help.

His father, Andre Rodgers, said Clive, who is usually shy and calm, would suddenly struggle and get angry when his father tried to persuade him from his OCD-related rituals.

Rogers also said, “We held it together for a few days, splitting the room and crying.” As a parent, that’s the most natural thing in the world. If your child feels pain or discomfort, You want to save them and then pull them out. “

Eventually, I found the therapist through NOCD, the same remote medical site that Gabby uses. Rogers said exposure response therapy changed Clive’s life and created a “family space of compassion and understanding.”

Rogers now considers himself a “workout partner” for Clive and provides encouragement and positive reinforcement as his son works to curb OCD behavior.

Like his dad told him “the last level of video games,” Clive spent 15 minutes visiting a nasty store that upset him a lot before the pandemic. While taking proper measures against coronavirus, Clive touched various objects well and even sat on the dirty corner floor. Currently, he is working to curb his urge to see the sun outdoors.

Clive has never met anyone else at OCD, but if he does, he also first reassures them that his secrets are safe. “Sister,” he said.

Then he says exposure response therapy can be difficult, but it really helps. He no longer protects his dishes from bacteria at dinner.

“Even when it’s really bad, it’s getting less and less until you’re positive, it doesn’t really get in the way of you, only sometimes,” Clive said.