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Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): is my child at risk?
Use the following checklist to find out if your child is at risk of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
- Does performing a certain ritual feel like an urgent necessity of life to your child?
- Do recurrent intrusive thoughts cause your child discomfort or anxiety?
- Does an extreme need for order and cleanliness force your child to tidy things/bathe/shower/wash his or her hands excessively?
- Does your child do things over and over (such as get up and down from a chair, count, tap)?
- Does your child repeatedly perform certain routines to prevent ‘bad things’ from happening?
- Does your child have great difficulty discarding things even when they have no practical value?
Some of the repetitive things that children with OCD do include:
- worry about germs from other people;
- repeatedly wash their hands;
- check things many times (such as locks on doors); and
- have to tap or count repeatedly.
If your child loses more than an hour a day to any of the above and if the need for such repetitive behaviour causes marked distress or significantly interferes with normal routines, relationships or social functioning, please discuss this with your doctor.
Last Reviewed: 15 June 2001
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