Effects of OCD on Adolescent or Teenagers

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Can you guess the estimated number of teenagers or kids who suffer from OCD - The Obsessive Compulsive Disorder? Well, there are about 1 in 200 or estimated 500,000 kids and adolescents who have OCD.  This in numbers is equal to the number of diabetic patients. So it comes down to 4-5 children suffering from OCD in a decent size primary or secondary school. That's quite a big number to worry about.

Teenagers are in their most challenging age in their lifetime. These are not the best of times since they are leaving the childhood and stepping adulthood. If your teenage kid has OCD, this can pose a big challenge with additional consequences.

Consequence of leaving OCD untreated in Teenagers

It is like leaving diabetes untreated and it will grow and grow exponentially due to lack of medicines and management capabilities. OCD symptoms if left on their own, can affect, in a bad way, almost all the spheres of life. School, work, marriage, friendships, relation, etc. all are negatively impacted by OCD symptoms.

These symptoms are so severe and they take so much time of the sufferer that it is almost impossible to complete the daily life activities, assignments, aspirations, etc. The school performance, work performance, home bound tasks, bank payments, groceries, love and care, etc are impacted in very acute way.

Some behavior of Adolescents with OCD

1. Kids refuse to get treated for OCD and deny they have OCD first of all. They just not accept the treatment for their OCD. The reason is the social stigma associated with diagnosis of a mental illness. Apart from the social and school pressure, the kid might not have the idea of the severity of the illness. In this situation, there is a need to find therapist can be a motivational interviewer. The questions asked by the therapist are designed for motivation and lower the negative feelings about OCD treatment.
   
   
2. You need to respect your kid’s decision of not able to tell you anything about the symptoms they are facing. You ought to respect their privacy and you should give non judgmental environment and support. Find a therapist with whom he or she can be comfortable.
   
   
3. Disrupted Routines can impact the life of teens with OCD. This can impact their home as well as school life. The symptoms can affect their homework and their attention span in class is reduced. In this case open up and stanp up for yur kid in school. There are rules under the Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) by which you can ask school to adjust as per recommended options for kids to succeed.
   
   
4. Teenagers who have OCD are more likely to have other mental health issues - such as depression, anxiety disorders and trichotillomania (compulsive hair or skin picking). So take care of these symptoms in addition to the other specified symptoms of OCD.