What To Do When Your Brain Gets Stuck

The Following comes from the book "What to Do When Your Brain Gets Stuck A Kid's Guide to Overcoming OCD" written by Dawn Huebner, Ph.D. It was written for ages 6-12

Dr. Heubner describes OCD as a glitch in your Brain Sorter. She talks about how normally our brains process thoughts quite easily and is able to decide which ones are worth keeping and which ones need to be thrown out. For instance, we've all had the thoughts of hurting people or taking drastic measures to solve a problem, however our brains know that these thoughts aren't really worth pursuing and so we only consider them for a minute. Someone with OCD, though, has a brain sorter that gets stuck and their "Junk" thoughts are tossed into the "Save" pile where they go through their head over and over and over. Another problem is with the "all-done" switch in their brain. Normally, we shut the door and our brain says, "Okay, the door is shut, you are all done." But OCD people don't get that message when to stop and so they feel like they need to do things over and over and over. They need to give the door an extra push becuase their brain didn't tell them it closed all the way the first time. They need to re-read words to make sure they saw them all. Then need to go to the bathroom agian and again.

Here are a few "Tricks" OCD likes to play...

1. Sound the Alarm. The brain actually triggers the fight or flight response in "false alarm" situations. Things are scary even and there is an urge to do whatever necessary to keep yourself safe.

2. The Maybe Game. OCD people are tricked into worrying about things that could "maybe" happen, but are very unlikely. Maybe a bird flew into the bathroom and now you need to check and make sure that there's not one in there every time you go in.

3. The Disappearing Just-Right Feeling. Most of the time we feel OK and are able to function without too much thought. OCD makes that OK feeling disappear. It makes people feel like they need to do something to get it back again. OCD is always whispering "Are you sure? Are you sure?" People aren't necessarily thinking something bad will happen, they just know they don't feel quite right and want to.

Some Tips and Suggestions

1. Remember the fight or flight response? It actually fades quite quickly if you don't fuel it. You have to let yourself get used to it and then you don't feel so nervous. Identify OCD thoughts (a thought usually followed by an urge to do something). Recognize when your brain is trying to play a trick on you and practice.

2. Talk Back. Talk about whether thoughts are logical or a trick. The more you talk about it and recognize thoughts the more you can fight them.

3. Show OCD Who's Boss. Fight back. If you have an urge to wash your hands every five minutes, try waiting ten. If you have to go to the bathroom every ten minutes, try waiting a little longer between each time. Make the OCD wait. Get busy with other interesting and fun things and the urges often will go away.

4. Turn OCD thoughts into funny thoughts. If you are worried about getting germs on everything--make a game and try getting germs on everything and see what happens. If OCD wants you to do something a certain number of times, tryn counding in a crazy way to mess it up. If you are scared about something, make up a story about it.

5. Tell yourself that you are okay. Look at yourself. Are you in danger? Calm down and tell yourself that you are okay.

Some Don'ts

1. Don't stand around arguing with OCD behaviors. OCD behaviors aren't reasonable and the glitch in the brain often can't be convinced that something isn't safe or clean. Fight the thought (or explain the logics) and then REDIRECT.

2. Don't Give Up. It's a constant fight and sometimes it's okay to rest where you're comfortable. After you've had a breather, stand up and take another step.