My son Jacob was diagnosed with OCD on 1-9-03. He was diagnosed with ADHD in early 2002. He is currently on 18 mg of Concerta and 25 mg of Zoloft. The doctor come to the OCD conclusion b/c of the following symptoms: 1. Jacob has to have his shoes tied tight. He will re-tie them over and over until he gets them to his liking. I have started to tie his shoes for him in the morning so that they do not distract him during school. 2. His apperance has to be suitable to him. (hair, clothes, shoes)If he thinks that something that he is wearing or a hair cut may not be liked by someone else he refuses it. 3. He has no self esteem. he is always calling himself stupid and dumd and saying I can't do this and that. 4. Paranoid- He thinks that everyone is looking at him and that they are talking about him. This includes family members, teachers, kids at school, strangers. Basically anybody he can see with their mouths moving is talking about him. He thinks they are making fun, picking on him, or saying he is stupid when that is not the case. 5. He can never accept the blame for anything that he does. It is always somebody elses fault. No matter what the situation, it is never him. 6. He can't stay on task he has to be reminded to stay on task constintly. He can only do one thing at a time. 7. Picks at his skin, scabs, cuts, burns, bites, sores. Basically anything that is on is body. He picks or bites the skin on his fingers until they bleed. Any type of sore, scab, etc. never gets the chance to heal b/c he can't leave it alone. 8. He gets things stuck in his head and talks about them all the time. For weeks, months even if he sees something on TV or hears something he will talk about it all the time. 9. Worries about things that have nothing to do with him. 10. Is always worried a tornado will come, or a fire. 11. He is the most nosey person I know. It doesn't matter what is going on or who is talking no matter what the situation is he has to know what is going on at all times.Regardless if it has anything to do with him or not.
Since being on the Zoloft he has slacked back on the skin picking as much. He was also sucking on his bottom lip before the Zoloft. he would do this to the point that his whole lip and half his chin would just be raw and he would not stop doing it no matter how bad it hurt or how many times I told him to stop. The lip sucking has slacked but I still catch him doing it. He doesn't pick at his fingers as much now but he still picks. I realize that he does the majority of these things without knowing that he is doing them or just out of habit. The majority of these things do not bother me. I reassure him that he is smart and that people are not talking about him and that I do care about him and it seems to quiet him for ashort time but it always comes back around. The skin picking and the lip sucking bother me the most. He is schedules to see a Piediatric Developmental Specialist in May and hopefully we can find some way to make him feel better about himself and become more comfortable with the things around him. But I fear that the as they call it "normal days" or "good days" will never come.I am not worried about myself but for his sake only. I would love to see the day that he feels comfortable enough to be able to socialize with his friends (the few he has) without the OCD and ADHD things getting in his way.