How OCD Can Affect a Child
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) involves more than just wanting things in a particular way or being neat. OCD involves obsessions that manifest as unwanted, recurring thoughts and compulsions that can temporarily relieve obsessions that can manifest as repetitive behaviors or mental rituals. Learning how symptoms can interfere with your child’s life and how OCD can affect a child can help you as a parent support your child.
What is OCD? 
OCD is characterized by obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are unwanted thoughts, fears, or urges that cause anxiety and distress. The compulsions, repetitive behaviors or mental rituals, act as a temporary relief for the obsessions, but, in reality, create an obsession and compulsion cycle. Examples of obsessions include fear of contamination, fear of something bad happening or causing harm to a family member or pet, worry about making a mistake or breaking rules, disturbing or distressing thoughts, or the need for things to feel “just right” or symmetrical. Examples of compulsions include excessive handwashing, repetitive checking of doors, homework, or belongings, asking for reassurance repeatedly, counting, tapping, or repeating certain words, arranging objects until they feel perfect, and rereading assignments. Mental compulsions do not involve physical actions and may be harder to spot. These include replaying conversations in their mind, repeating words or phrases silently, replaying events to make sure they didn’t make a mistake, mentally counting, and seeking certainty about a fear.
How OCD Can Affect a Child in Different Areas of Life
Emotional Effects of OCD
OCD can have a big impact on a child’s mental and emotional health. It can cause persistent worry and anxiety. Children can experience guilt related to intrusive thoughts and emotional exhaustion, and low self-esteem from trying to manage symptoms.
OCD and School
Intrusive thoughts and obsessions can be distracting for children and make concentrating in class difficult. OCD can make it difficult to complete tasks due to excessive checking or rereading. Children also might avoid certain situations or activities.
Friendships and OCD
Social withdrawal can become a side effect of OCD due to feeling judged by peers, avoidance of certain situations due to fears, or feeling different from others. Because of the nature of the obsessions and compulsions, many children may feel embarrassed about their symptoms and try to hide them from friends, leading to even more feelings of isolation.
Family Life and OCD
OCD symptoms can cause tension in a household, or family members may become involved in OCD-related rituals without even realizing it. An example is a child seeking reassurance and asking repeatedly if everything is okay, and a parent providing reassurance because they want to ease those anxieties. Morning and bedtime routines may take significantly longer and can result in frustration or confusion for other household members. 
Physical Effects
OCD can take a toll on your child’s physical health. Anxiety caused by OCD can lead to sleeping difficulties, fatigue, headaches, and stomachaches. Children with OCD contamination may experience skin irritations from excessive hand washing.
How to Get Your Child Evaluated
A psychological evaluation is required to identify OCD. A mental health professional must administer the evaluation. Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy has been shown to be the most effective treatment for OCD.
At Geo Psychological Testing, we’re here to help with OCD and psychological evaluations for children in The Woodlands and the Houston area. To schedule, give us a call or contact us through our website here.