melanie Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Danny is petrified of snakes . We live in NJ and we have some snakes I guess ,But really not where we live.We cant say the word ,He wont watch a movie unless he knows theres no snakes,His books have to be checked before he reads them (anything with pictures) He recieved a Michael Jackson book for the holidays and theres a picture of a snake he wont touch it. What are your kids affraid of? melanie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzan Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Danny is petrified of snakes . We live in NJ and we have some snakes I guess ,But really not where we live.We cant say the word ,He wont watch a movie unless he knows theres no snakes,His books have to be checked before he reads them (anything with pictures) He recieved a Michael Jackson book for the holidays and theres a picture of a snake he wont touch it. What are your kids affraid of? melanie Oh yeah, snakes! DD8 Age 2-3 Flies Age 5-current Yellow Jackets Only serious during episodes - airplanes flying into the house, someone getting into the house to get us, emergency vehicles, public transportation DD7 (only serious during episodes) Snakes Bugs and spiders of any kind Sharks Death Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monarchcat Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Luckily we don't deal with irrational fears on a a regular basis, but the one incident was last year following a strep infection. He suddenly had an intense fear of "the big crunch", which is the opposite of the big bang. The theory is that when the universe ends it will contract in on itself again. So he was petrified of the universe contracting in and time moving backward and dead people coming alive again, getting out of their coffins and moving backward through their lives. He clung to me and cried for days. Luckily it was only bad for a few days (and really, not even "bad" relative to others experiences here), then it seemed to wane and he was ok again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcdc3 Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Age 6: Germs Age 7: Spiders, Germs, Snakes, Bugs Age 8: INTENSE fear of being fat, obese people, poisons (things that were not poison at all, but she thought they were), death, the dark, skeletons, the list could go on and on Age 9: Still has the intense fear of being fat, obese people, but the rest of the stuff has went away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomWithOCDSon Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Age 6: Germs Age 7: Germs Age 8: Germs Age 9: Germs Age 10: Germs Age 11: Germs, dirt and grease Age 12: Germs, dirt and grease Poor dog has not been touched, let alone petted, by her "human brother" in over 5 years; she's a beagle, complete with oily coat and a nice, distinctive musk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
familyof4 Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Age 4 - Driving on the highway, Bugs/Insects - Flys and Ants especially Age 5 - Any bathroom except one particular one in our house, raccoon figurines at Grandmas house Age 5, 6 - Anyone seeing him without a shirt on. Leaving the house. Given a choice he would never go anywhere - including fun places. Once we get him out of the house he is usually okay for the most part. Not sure what this is rooted in. I know he hates to get dressed - prefers to be in pjs and I think thats part of it. He won't wear any pants/shirts with zippers or buttons or snaps and no denim. It's worse if we stay home for a few days and don't go anywhere. We are better off making sure he gets out everyday or the fear really takes over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcmom Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 My milder pandas dd- age 9: germs, getting sick, sick people, ticks, lymes disease, throwing up. She used to resist going out and eating anyplace other than home. She has improved! Pandas dd- age 6: she didn't really have fears- more other ocd/sensory/anxiety issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peglem Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 What are your kids afraid of? Elevators, not just using them, but being anywhere near them. We always take the stairs, but unfortunately they are usually located near the elevators. Even elevators on tv scare her. Coffee cups- this is a recent one- we cannot drink from a cup that has a handle. I don't know what the source of this is, or why. Grandma's walking stick. She has recently overcome a fear of Carosels, which I think developed from watching Mary Poppins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcmom Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 peg- did you have your appt yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peglem Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 No, not till 1:00 EST. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megs_Mom Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 OCD is always illogical. PANDAS should be treated medically. But you can do therapy for OCD at the same time. Snakes, or germs or dogs, or the big bang (love that one!!!) - it doesn't really matter. My daughter would not touch the book because possibly the person at the factory might have sneezed on it and then she'll throw up. Your child won't touch the book because it might have a snake in it. There is very little difference. You can't worry about the actual shape that the fear is taking. It's like the creature in Harry Potter that takes the shape of what you fear most. But it's all illogical. And you treat OCD (after or co-inciding with medical treatment - abx, Pred, IVIG, Pex) in the same way whatever the fear or just right feeling - with ERP therapy. And for kids, this means tiny baby steps of exposure in which they don't do the ritual. At our worst, this meant about 30 seconds (or less) of exposure & then a big celebration & a reward. Many children can slowly learn the tools of ERP - delay, humor, change it up, sit with anxiety, etc. If you want some specific examples for snakes, just let me know. I'd be happy to write up an example of whate we'd do for our daughter given this fear. All my best - Susan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melanie Posted January 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 OCD is always illogical. PANDAS should be treated medically. But you can do therapy for OCD at the same time. Snakes, or germs or dogs, or the big bang (love that one!!!) - it doesn't really matter. My daughter would not touch the book because possibly the person at the factory might have sneezed on it and then she'll throw up. Your child won't touch the book because it might have a snake in it. There is very little difference. You can't worry about the actual shape that the fear is taking. It's like the creature in Harry Potter that takes the shape of what you fear most. But it's all illogical. And you treat OCD (after or co-inciding with medical treatment - abx, Pred, IVIG, Pex) in the same way whatever the fear or just right feeling - with ERP therapy. And for kids, this means tiny baby steps of exposure in which they don't do the ritual. At our worst, this meant about 30 seconds (or less) of exposure & then a big celebration & a reward. Many children can slowly learn the tools of ERP - delay, humor, change it up, sit with anxiety, etc. If you want some specific examples for snakes, just let me know. I'd be happy to write up an example of whate we'd do for our daughter given this fear. All my best - Susan I would like like to get some of the information is you could provide it I know I need to do more theraputic interventions for danny They always seem to be a dead end of money more money and I get no where . Melanie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megs_Mom Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 Hey Melanie - I don't remember where you are, but if you want me to look for a really good OCD therapist that uses ERP in your area, PM me with your general area. The first steps are the same as the ones that I listed on the other thread - start by explaining OCD and ERP therapy by reading "what to do when your brain gets stuck". Then start calling OCD it's name, rather than saying the child is afraid of snakes, say "OCD is trying to make you afraid of snakes and that must be really hard for you. I am going to help you learn some tools (get someone to teach you some tools) that will help you fight back against OCD. We can fight together to make sure that OCD does not make you feel so bad". then you learn the Fear Thermometer & start to build the heirarchy. Fear of snakes is kind of easy , because there are so many ways that you can do the exposure. Rate each of the following event from 1-10 on his fear thermometer - then have him make up more options with you. * Touch an actual snake (this should be a 10). Let a snake wrap around your neck. (you can break this down into how many seconds you touch/hold the snake (from as little as 30 seconds, all the way up to 20 minutes!) * Be in the same room with a snake that is out of the cage. (you can break this down into the number of steps you are away from the snake) * Be in the same room with a snake that is in the cage. (again, you could break this down by # of minutes, # of steps away - there are infinite baby steps you can take here). * Talk about a snake (for varying lengths of time) * See a snake on TV (Harry Potter 2 is a good movie when you get to this one - you can start with a nature show, work your way up) * See a snake in a book in black and white. See an entire book full of snake pics. * Have a book about snakes in the house/in the room * Touch the cover of a closed book that has a snake in it. * Touch a toy snake/be in same room/store with toy snake. * Practice hissing like a snake. * Touch your mom after she has touched a snake in another room. * Touch the skin of a snake. * Read a book like Harry Potter with a snake in it. * Go to a park that could have a snake in it (you can break this down into more baby steps if needed - such as drive by, walk by, put one foot in the park, stand on the edge of the park etc). Basically, you want to find a 2 on the fear thermometer & then build a reward program to go after this fear and celebrate the success - even if it seems a little small, like driving by a place that might have a snake!!! I assume that his compulsion is "avoidance" - if it is also something else, like something he says, or washing, or whatever, then he needs to resist the compulsion for increasing amounts of times until it is boring and he does not need to do the compulsion. I am just a mom, not a therapist, but these tips are all in books that are available on amazon. However, I found that for big stuff - and I hear it's important for teens too - that a good therapist can really help. But they must be experts at OCD and at ERP therapy. Hope this is helpful. Be sure to find a reasonable reward system for him - sometimes teens can be motivated by internal rewards (praise, etc), but often earning tickets toward a larger reward is best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_Mom Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 Elevators, germs, germs, and more germs:) ticks and of course food with Pandas "anorexic." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melanie Posted January 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 Elevators, germs, germs, and more germs:) ticks and of course food with Pandas "anorexic." Im in Central NJ where its very very cold!! If you know of a good therapist that uses this type of therapy PLEASE let me know Thanks Melanie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now