My son was five when the initial symptoms of OCD began to emerge. A particularly traumatic emotional response to surgery, only days after his fifth birthday, soon left him engulfed in anxiety and OCD. At the time, I was unaware that what my son was suffering was OCD. He wasn’t diagnosed until he was six. Through out that year, pre-diagnosis, my family were suddenly flung into turmoil as we watched this child evolve from a happy, confident, fun loving five year old, into an anxious, desperately unhappy and tearful little boy. The worst thing we watched him suffer was the immense fear and desperation that plagued him every day and even woke him to interrupt his sleep.

We asked for help

After helplessly watching this unfold, my husband and I eventually made the decision to approach our GP. I say eventually because even that’s not as easy as it sounds. To approach our GP and ask for help meant that we as parents, first had to admit to ourselves, that there was a problem. Admitting too ourselves that our son was ill, was exceptionally painful. Not knowing at the time with what or why, or what to do about it, was one of the most frightening feelings in the world.

Luckily, our GP was great. He made an immediate referral to the Community Pediatrician, who in turn referred our son to the local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) where our son was sent for an initial assessment with a Child Psychiatrist. The diagnosis was OCD and GAD, (Generalised Anxiety Disorder).

Treatment

Our son was appointed a therapist who began to visit us at home on a weekly basis. On the first visit the therapist asked our son to draw a picture of OCD. However, as he was so young and unaware that his “worries” had such a name, we referred to the OCD as “Charlie”, a name chosen by our son. On paper, our son drew Charlie as a streak of bright red lightening. When he was asked to draw where Charlie was, he drew a picture of Charlie inside his own head. For me, that was when our son’s OCD became very, very real.

The therapist has been working closely with our son for over a year using a combination of Narrative Therapy (to externalise the problem) and Thought Blocking techniques.

Medication was introduced last July in an effort to reduce our son’s OCD symptoms and anxiety. It was hoped that medication would allow our son relief from the symptoms and enable him lead a more “normalized” life. OCD has the ability to cause chaos in everyday life, disruption, upheaval and torment. One of the most worrying aspects for me, as a parent, was the impact OCD had on our son’s development. After watching him withdraw and fail to reach the usual “milestones” of early childhood, medication became the temporary support in which we chose to put our faith.

Success

Our son has just celebrated his eighth birthday while away on a camping weekend arranged by OCD-UK. Not so long ago, we were unable to leave home for even short visits to the supermarket without waiting in the car for him for half an hour while he repeatedly went backwards and forwards, going to the toilet and washing his hands. Even when he had completed this ritual, the trip had to be arranged around various public toilets. Our weekend away not only served as a very welcome break for all the family, it also provided the opportunity of realisation to determine just how much our son has improved. Although the trip was punctuated at various stages by OCD, our son had the strength and determination not to allow its presence to prevent him going.

OCD still rears its ugly head, but for the moment, treatment has brought about enough relief for our son to experience the “normalised” childhood he so desperately needed.

There are setbacks sometimes, obstacles and events that are unforeseeable, but in the general scheme of things improvement has risen above our expectations. Now our son not only aims, but also achieves, not always because some things are still very difficult, but usually.

Number 1 on my son’s wish list used to be his own personal bathroom, a toilet all his own. These days, that wish doesn’t make the top 20. Now that, in my opinion, is success.

The Future

The future concerns our aims. While medication has appeared to provide some relief from the symptoms of OCD, my husband and I agreed from the outset that this path would be a temporary solution for our son. When age and maturity bring about the abilities for him to derive maximum benefit from CBT, we hope in the future to use this route instead of the medication, should it be required.

On a personal level, I no longer fear OCD. Educating myself about the disorder has helped to reduce the feelings of helplessness and confusion I once felt. Speaking with other families of sufferers and other sufferers themselves, usually via the OCD-UK Bulletin Board, has given me what is possibly the most beneficial experience of all, the knowledge that we as a family, and our son, are not alone. Our future, is as always, shrouded in many “unknowns”. But, our ultimate aim and desire, is to help our son not only beat the symptoms of OCD, but to also lead a fulfilling and enjoyable life despite its existence.