In the last month, my 7 year old son has gone from a happy, bright kid to a crying, compulsive, germaphobe. Today, it deteriorated 10-fold to the point he is now crying uncontrollably about the possibility of germs on a bench, on a plate, on his mum and I...It is breaking out hearts and we cant seem to find a mental health care professional without a 10 week wait.

Hi Muzzatron2000,

I'm so sorry to hear about your son's deteriorating condition - this is truly heartbreaking to have to watch and live with. 10 weeks to see a mental health care professional sounds like a really long time to wait - can I ask where you've been looking for the support?

In the meantime, websites like the Raising Children's Network have some tips that you could try with him. (If you haven't already seen them)

You can also get free carer phone counselling for yourself through the Carer Gateway.

Xg

Hi Muzzatron2000

Welcome to the bb forum.

I am so very sorry that your son is unwell. I understand what you are going through, as my daughter fell severely ill with OCD at age 13.

Waiting for help is really hard. Particularly, as it often means watching your child’s health deteriorate. Finding the right help can be tricky when the system is so overburdened as it is now due to the impact of the pandemic. But it can be done.

Have you been to see your GP? Do you have a Mental Health Care plan? If not, I would encourage you not to skip these steps.

The MHC plan enables you to access Medicare rebates for psychological treatment and the GP’s advice on the right type of practitioner to make a diagnosis and offer treatment is helpful (as opposed to you making random calls). The GP may also have a local network and be able to get you in to see a mental health practitioner faster.

From my experience, I engaged a paediatrician very early in our journey to help my daughter. For us, this was a really good move. You may want to consider this, as you may be able to get an appointment without a huge wait.

I could talk for hours but don’t want to overwhelm you. If you have questions just ask.

Before I go though, I want you to know that while people fall ill, they also get better. Hang in there.

Kind thoughts to you

Hi Muzzatron2000,

Wellcome to our forums !

I’m so sorry that your son and your family is going through this.

I totally understand I suffered with severe anxiety OCD it was a very horrible cruel condition to go through.

The anxiety that accompanies OCD is crippling and terrifying the panic is very distressing to the sufferer.

My recovery started from seeing a gp we did a mental health plan together this enabled me to see a clinical psychologist and I also saw a psychiatrist who diagnosed me.

I was put on a antidepressant to help me to manage my anxiety .

After being diagnosed this led me to a clinic that specialised in OCD it was a group therapy.. it was an intervention into the OCD.. the therapy I did was meta cognitive therapy this therapy changed my life.

Im so sorry you have to wait so long to see a professional….. I highly recommend you see someone who specialises in OCD maybe see if there is a clinic in your area that does therapy for OCD.

Your sons anxiety level may be high that could be why he has had a change today…. the anxiety that goes through the sufferer is severe.

Please go back to your gp ASAP and insist on needing to see a specialist ASAP so the specialist can help your son to start intervening on his OCD.

OCD also consists of compulsions a lot of my compulsions were mental and couldn’t be seen physically but these compulsions were keeping me in my OCD cycle.

OCD is a vicious cycle but it is a cycle you can learn how to break free of with the correct help.

I have written two threads you may be interested in reading

From someone who had OCD and recovered

and

Effective treatment for OCD Metacognitive

Ask me any questions

Hello Muzzatron, and also know what you are trying to cope with and this must be heartbreaking not only for you but also for your son who is struggling so much trying to understand why this is happening and not with other kids and can't understand why he may be singled out.

If you can copy and paste this in your search browser 'online help for OCD Aus', there will be different places for help.

Please let us know how you get on.

Geoff.

Thank you all for your support and suggestions. We have him booked in to see the GP and will start there. Some of those websites have some useful information that may help to occupy his mind.

I will re-post next week after the GP visit. Lets hope today is a better day.

Good morning Muzzatron2000,

Thats great you have an appointment with your gp I hope it all goes well.

Just a couple of suggestions that you may want to try while waiting for your appointment.

You could try to have your son do some colouring in

( this is mindfullness) while he is colouring in ask him how does the pencil feel? What colours can you see? How does the paper feel? What can you hear?

Google a meditation for children and ask your son just listen to the meditation and try to do what the meditation is telling you……

You could also do this with him

When you go out side ask your son how does the sun feel on your body?

What can you hear and see?

When you find your son becoming in a state try to redirect his attention to something in the present moment.

I hope you have a better day today 😊

We are here as a community to support you and your son.

Hi Muzzatron2000,

Welcome to the forums and thanks for reaching out here. It sounds like you are going through a tough time with your son's diagnoses, I'm sorry to hear he is not doing well and that you are not able to get the support you need. The pandemic has caused so much strain on mental health professionals which is why there is a very long wait for appointments. Have you spoken to your GP about maybe seeing a counsellor in the meantime or referring you to a different child psychologist? I'm not sure if your GP has given you information about your son's condition and the support available for carers, if not I would also ask for more information. Hope this helps