obsessive-compulsive disorder

Trauma Tuesday: Is OCD Physiological or Behavioral?

Submitted by FaithA on Tue, 02/17/2009 - 09:19

Traumatized Adopted Child (c) Julie C

Julia and I both write a lot of articles for eHow. One of the articles that I wrote for eHow is entitled How to Cure OCD. (OCD stands for obsessive compulsive disorder.) A reader took issue with my instructions, calling me an “idiot”, “uninformed,” and “irresponsible.” (You must grow a thick skin to write professionally.) According to this reader,

OCD is a physiological condition and is not caused by ANY underlying, deeper emotional issue - any more than DIABETES is. It actually DOES essentially happen in a vacuum, with suffers unable to predict or control when their brain will become "stuck" on an anxiety producing thought. The ONLY recognized treatment allows individuals to attempt to MANAGE their OCD, through a combination of cognitive behavorial therapy and medication. THERE IS NO CURE FOR OCD, and for this person to suggest otherwise is either completely uninformed, irresponsible, or both.

I was a little taken aback by this comment, considering that I used to have OCD and have now, through the behavioral modifications that I shared in my instructions, have mostly overcome my OCD. To give you sampling, I used to…

Trauma Tuesday: Hoarding, OCD, and the Abused Adopted Child

Submitted by FaithA on Tue, 11/11/2008 - 09:15

Traumatized Adopted Child (c) Julie C

Most people have heard of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). When they think of OCD, they think of an adopted child who must lock the door three times or keep the objects in her room in a particular order.

OCD is common in abused adopted children. OCD is an anxiety disorder, and abused children frequently struggle with deep levels of anxiety. One way that abused children manage their anxiety is through OCD symptoms. By controlling things that most people do not care about, they feel like they are taking control over their own lives. This is very important to an abused child whose life has been out of control.

One manifestation of OCD that many people are not aware of is called “hoarding.” Hoarding is when an abused adopted child must stockpile a whole bunch of a particular item. If anyone tampers with the stockpile, the abused child can become agitated to the point of having a panic attack.

I have an issue with hoarding pens.

Trauma Tuesday: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and the Traumatized Adopted Child

Submitted by FaithA on Tue, 06/17/2008 - 08:52

Pens (c) Faith AllenMany traumatized adopted children will struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). OCD is an anxiety disorder in which a traumatized adopted child seeks to take control of things that do not matter because he was unable to control the things that did matter. Of course, the traumatized adopted child is not going to be able to articulate that this is the reason for the OCD. All the child knows is that certain things must be done in a certain way. If they are not, then the traumatized adopted child feels an enormous amount of anxiety.

OCD can manifest itself in a number of ways.