Understanding the signs and symptoms of anxiety and OCD
As parents, we want our children to thrive, but what happens when we don’t understand or recognize symptoms that may signal they’re struggling?
Brianna Hewett, LCSW clinical coordinator with the school anxiety/school refusal program and Lauren Dineen-Griffin, LCSW, clinical coordinator, anxiety and OCD programming at Ascension Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital share four common signs and symptoms that are observed among children with various anxiety disorders.
Obsessions
Children and teens with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) may report having unwanted or “scary” thoughts that cause an increase in anxiety and distress. Children may describe these as thoughts, ideas or pictures that keep coming into their mind even though they do not want them to appear and reappear. An example may be a repeated thought that germs may harm them or others. These are called obsessions and are a sign that your child or teen may be suffering from OCD.
Compulsions
Compulsions are behaviors a person with OCD performs in efforts to neutralize an obsession or eliminate anxiety, frustration or discomfort. Oftentimes children and teens feel that they have to do the compulsions even though they know they do not make sense. Sometimes compulsions can be seen, like excessively washing hands or touching an item multiple times. But compulsions can also be more difficult to see, for example excessively apologizing or seeking reassurance from others, or repeating certain words or phrases in their mind. Compulsions can take a significant amount of time for an individual and cause unwanted consequences such as being late to school.
Somatic complaints
Common signs and symptoms of patients in our programs will include a great deal of somatic complaints (physical responses) to distress. In young children, parents and guardians may hear their child often complain of a stomachache before going to school. The most common somatic complaints often present as headaches, migraines, stomach pain, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, chest pain, difficulty breathing, dizziness, light-headedness, fatigue and body aches. These symptoms can very easily mimic a flu or a common cold. This can result in frequent doctor visits when in reality these symptoms are due to the child’s stress response. This often can result in significant school absences or school nurse visits.
Worry and rumination
Anxiety may lead to an increase in worry for children and adolescents. You may hear your child asking “What if...” more frequently. Rumination is the repetitive thinking or dwelling on negative experiences or anxious thoughts. Often, kids will describe these thoughts as “racing” and difficult to control. Rumination and worry can increase distress and anxiety for individuals and can lead to difficulty concentrating, muscle tension or sleep disturbance.
These symptoms, while they may seem overwhelming, are treatable with the help of a mental health care professional and there are many evidence-based therapeutic modalities available that help patients improve their overall tolerance for distress. Parents seeking further information may take comfort in knowing support is readily available and evaluations are offered locally, 24/7 through the Ascension Alexian Behavioral Health Hospital in Hoffman Estates.
• Children's health is a continuing series. This column was provided by Ascension Illinois.