Parenting OCD: 3 Reasons To Be Curious, Not Furious
Julie Derrick
Childhood OCD : I help parents and schools figure out ways to support a child with OCD and anxiety??The Mind Monsters Books ???? The Parenting OCD in Teens and Tweens Handbook
What do you do when you find yourself feeling frustrated and angry when thrust into the role of parenting a child with OCD?
It can be so easy to become angry that:
?? An invisible enemy is controlling your child.
?? You, too, are being controlled by this invisible enemy.
?? Your life has been robbed of any normality.
It is little wonder that we find ourselves losing it.
But instead of getting furious at OCD, a better way to outsmart OCD would be to become curious instead.
Here are 3 reasons why.
1. OCD loves a reaction
OCD absolutely loves an audience.
That's why it delivers so many OCD meltdowns.
When your child is having an OCD meltdown, it knows that it will usually result in all family members becoming frustrated and tense, leading to a shouting match with everyone trying to out-shout each other.
However, resorting to this sort of behaviour helps OCD gain power and more control.
A better approach would be to try to count to 10 (or count from 5 backwards, 5-4-3-2-1) and then calmly walk away from the situation and ask yourself what you could do to outsmart it instead.??
For us, it was a case of going straight into the car to have a short drive to the coast, where my daughter (and we as a family) were able to become become calm again.
2. OCD loves to be the boss
OCD loves to recruit others to carry out compulsions, too.
Before you know it, it will have managed to get everyone dancing to its tune and be carrying out all manner of compulsions to keep your child calm.
Try to outplay OCD instead.??
One way to refuse to comply with OCD's demands is by separating it from your child.
One suggestion on how to do this would be by giving OCD a different name.
We call ours Hank .
Or you can simply refer to it as 'OCD'.
Then, the minute OCD demands that you do some sort of compulsion, you can refuse by saying something like;"Tell OCD I am not going to do that as it is being silly."
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3. OCD has many different faces
OCD is a very complex condition and can have many different themes.
Additionally, each of these themes can vary considerably from child to child.
For example, contamination OCD can vary and include having a fear of:
That's why it's essential to fully understand what OCD is and how it operates.
This is the BEST way to tackle OCD.
Become curious and start carrying out in-depth research to start managing it successfully.
Some of the ways you can get a better understanding of OCD are:
? Checking out content on reputable OCD websites.
? Joining OCD Facebook groups and following popular OCD hashtags on social media platforms.
? Listen to OCD podcasts.
I was honoured to be recently interviewed for Julie Robinson BA HonsPGCE 's Time to Connect podcast. In the podcast, I shared the challenges I faced when parenting a child through OCD and what we did to free ourselves from its control.
We also discussed:
How it is similar in ritualistic behaviour to that of children with autism.
And to that of eating disorders.
To wrap up this week's newsletter, please could I ask a favour???
If you enjoy what I share and are curious about the challenges of living with OCD...
Please could you spare 20 minutes to support the podcast by sparing 20 minutes or so to check it out, by clicking the link below.
And let me know what you think.
Julie Robinson BA HonsPGCE and I would be forever grateful for your support and feedback.
Thank you in advance.??
#ocdawareness #ocdrecovery #parentingstruggles
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10 个月Someone I follow on Facebook shared an OCD diagnosis for her son yesterday - I had never really considered it before. I am awaiting a referral for an ADHD diagnosis for our youngest and it is a worry - albeit I am not sharing that worry with her - instead reframing it as a "superpower" if it turns out it's an issue. I host a 40 minute Zoom event full of business owners - many of them parents. It would be interesting to learn what you do. You should pop along as my guest. Each takes a turn to outline what they do. The goal is to get enquiries from those in the Zoom room, or, have them share what you do with people like the target clients you mention. ? Fancy it? ? Visitors can win business. But they sometimes hear about something they need too which is why everyone wins if you pop along (It’s NOT BNI). ? Tomorrow, Wednesday 17th January, 3:00 to 3:40PM. ? Or, Tuesday 23rd January, 10:00 to 10:40AM. ? If you do, reply with "Wednesday" or "Tuesday" and I'll send you the Zoom link.
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10 个月Honestly it can be so hard, especially when you are having to feed into the OCD to calm the situation down.
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10 个月Invaluable guidance as always Julie Derrick to help parents of children with OCD.
Childhood OCD : I help parents and schools figure out ways to support a child with OCD and anxiety??The Mind Monsters Books ???? The Parenting OCD in Teens and Tweens Handbook
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