10 Reasons Why OCD Isn't A Joke

Have you ever been guilty of making a throwaway remark about OCD?

Here are 10 reasons why parenting a child with OCD is far from a joke.

1. You keep it secret, even from close friends and family, because you fear people will think your child is going mad.
2. Making plans go out of the window...even completing a food shop becomes challenging because the minute your child phones you in floods of tears, you end up dropping everything to go rushing to their aid.
3. You live in fear of your child being sectioned. Even more distressing is when your child begs to be sectioned.
4. It can feel like your child is being held hostage by an invisible bully, which results in you doing anything it asks to try to calm your child down.
5. You're constantly living on the edge, fearing the next meltdown because they can wreck the whole day.
6. You feel helpless watching your child's future slipping away as dream careers and holding down relationships seem unimaginable.
7. You fear the dreaded school attendance letters dropping through the letterbox as your child's attendance plummets.
8. Relationships become strained when you have different opinions and approaches on how to tackle OCD.
9. You feel mentally and physically drained, not helped by endless sleepless nights worrying.

10. OCD takes over your life, with almost every conversation and event becoming consumed by OCD.

So, how did we eventually get our lives back from OCD to the point where:

• Our daughter moved away to pursue her dream career.
• We can now make plans...and stick to them.
• OCD no longer calls the shots.

We learnt how to do the opposite of what OCD wanted by coming up with a plan.

? We created challenges to tackle OCD issues and broke them into manageable steps.

? We agreed on rewards to celebrate any milestones successfully completed.

? We met with the headteacher to get discreet support with schoolwork.

? We found ways to distract intrusive thoughts at times when anxiety was likely to peak.

? We stayed vigilant to ensure that OCD didn't creep back in.

I cover these steps in more detail within my Parenting OCD in Teens and Tweens Digital Handbook .

I created the handbook to offer support, strategies and HOPE for parents while waiting for professional support.

Because left untreated, I know from bitter experience that OCD has a nasty habit of taking control of the whole household.

So, if you're a parent needing advice on what you can do to start standing up to OCD from someone who has walked in your shoes and come out the other side.

Or if you're a professional wanting to know more about what OCD is and how you can support a young person with OCD.

You can get access to my digital handbook TODAY by clicking the link below:

Parenting OCD in Teens and Tweens Digital Handbook.