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Is there something that can cause OCD to appear at some ...
Sent to Health Experts August 29 05:47 PM

Is there something that can cause OCD to appear at some times and everything seems fine at other times? my 6 year old seems to worry about germs and wash his hands constantly at some times and seems fine at other times. He says he has a funny feeling about germs and has to wash his hands. sometimes he cries because he cant help it. I;m a little concerned but have not yet seen a Dr. for this.

 

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Male , Age: 6

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I'm just observing him thus far and haven't taken any medical action yet. Not sure if this is OCD or not.

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August 31 5:12 PM (1 day and 23 hours later)
         
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August 31 6:03 PM (50 minutes and 59 seconds later)
         
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You should take your son to see his physician as soon as possible, as I think that your son may indeed be suffering from OCD. OCD can wax and wane, and sometimes symptoms will be present and other times they might appear absent, so this could be the case here. But from your description of your son's behavior, I think that OCD is most certainly a possibility.

Take him in to see his pediatrician as soon as possible. OCD can cause someone considerable distress, as the obsessions and compulsions can be very disturbing, and even more so for a child who doesn't understand that he has a disorder. There are a number of treatments available.

Here's a link of an article about pediatric OCD. Although it's a few years old is does a pretty good job of explaining the disorder is easy to understand terms: http://intramural.nimh.nih.gov/pdn/pub-4.pdf#search=%22pediatric%20obsessive%20compulsive%20disorder%22

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any further questions - I'm more than happy to try and help.

Take care - Dr. Fay

Edited by jcfay on August 31 2006 at 6:04 PM

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