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Good books for anxious/ocd kids - any ideas?


dut

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Hi - I was wondering what resources people have used together with their kids or that the kids can read or use on their own.

 

looking for ideas.. any that are particularly good?

 

thanks :)

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For general anxiety, I like Up and Down the Worry Hill and What to Do When You Worry Too Much. My kids liked the concept of worries being like tomato plants and knowing that if the worries grew or died was directly under their control (from WTDWY Worry Too Much).

 

But what both my kids really liked was What to Do When Your Brain Gets Stuck - which goes over the steps you need to do for ERP. My DD, who doesn't have true compulsions - just obsessive worries - was 5 when we started reading it together. Every once in awhile when her worries get large again, she'll pull it out and review. It gave her tools for her tool box. Even tho it's for OCD, we adapted it to use against worries in general. You still go through the same steps - name your worry voice, catch it in the act, defy what it's telling you to do by doing the opposite, etc. It's still about taking baby steps and rewarding small accomplishments. So very adaptable for GAD, not just ERP - tho the first read thru you may need to help them see how it can be applied to GAD.

 

If it's an older child, you might want to consider Talking Back to OCD by John March (here's a google books version http://books.google.com/books?id=WxXWOAkaRN4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=talking+back+to+OCD&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lPaPT724IoHX0QHV1d2SBQ&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=talking%20back%20to%20OCD&f=false

 

I also liked Freeing Your Child from Anxiety - it helped me reframe my own view of the problem.

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Thank you both.

 

My dd8 is flaring mildly at the moment. Intrusive thoughts (we think, she's calling it the voice) some bedwetting this am, fears at bedtime, some antagonism/attitude type stuff. While her fears are mild at the moment in comparison, I think they're getting her down and she asked last night if there were some other ways that she could handle them or deal with them better.

 

I'll go hunt at the book shop today or amazon them.... thanks again

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I agree with LLM. We have almost the entire series of "What to do when...." books. They were recommended by our CBT therapist and my daughter loves them. We have...... "What to do when your brain gets stuck", "What to do when you dread your bed", "What to do when your temper flares", & "What to do when you worry to much". I got them all from Amazon. We read from one of them every night.

 

Dedee

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Hi - thanks so much for the suggestions. My dd absolutely loves the "what to do... worry too much" book (brain stuck one is on the way).

 

She said tonight it's the best book she's ever read and she's a voracious reader that loves books, so that is high praise indeed :)

 

She also likes "up and down the worry hill" but feels it's a little young for her but is trying to read it to younger brother (also PANDAS)but he won't listen.

 

"Kissing doorknobs" seemed to have some teen sexual content and thus too young for dd8 but I will keep a note for later years. Mind you she managed to get a Monster High book past me from a second-hand bookstore and read it before we realised it's content is a tad too old for her :)

 

She is really, really super pleased with the books. I can't believe we waited so long to do this for her so thank you again for those excellent suggestions. She now wants the 'what to do' books for nail biting for herself and for what to do when your temper flares - for her 4 year old brother!

 

:)

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I'm glad she likes it! You may want to check out "Talking Back to OCD" for yourself. It really helped me shift my perspective and see my role in a different and helpful way.

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LLM - I've just started the one you recommended "freeing your child from anxiety" and will try your second recommendation after that one. Our ped has about 100 PANDAS patient. Their drs waiting room has a library resource for parents and kids. I may donate a couple of these excellent books to it. They're so helpful.

 

I remember reading the tamar chansky book on ocd when we first got dd's dx a few years back but have been so focused on researching the medical side that this side has been neglected.

 

thanks gain....

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