Why Mental Health Professionals are Missing Signs of OCD

When you get assessed by a mental health professional you assume that they would be well versed in all possible diagnoses. You assume they will identify, diagnose and treat any possible mental health struggle. Unfortunately that assumption is not only wrong, but dangerous.

Most mental health professionals are not taught how to diagnose or treat OCD. We talk about why and what parents can do about it.

OCD seems to be the step-child of mental health education and training. Which is mind boggling considering, according to the International OCD Foundation, 1 out of 100 adults have OCD and 1 out of 200 children and teens do as well. 

Think about that for a moment. The same amount of children have OCD as Diabetes. This is not a rare mental health disorder, and yet there is this pervasive lack of training and expertise around the issue. 

Mental health professionals aren’t given the education in their graduate programs. They are often not taught that OCD is not just about washing hands or tapping some magical number. 

They often don’t realize that a person can have OCD if they have an intrusive thought that they are a bad person and they need to confess all their “bad” thoughts to those they love. 

They often don’t understand that a person can have OCD if they have an intrusive feeling that they might stop breathing, so they have to continually take deep breaths. 

Or that a person can have OCD if they have an intrusive thought that they want to harm others or themselves. That one in particular can be dire in the hands of a mental health professional who does not understand OCD.

According to the International OCD Foundation, on average it can take someone up to 17 years from the onset of symptoms to get properly diagnosed and begin receiving effective treatment. That is unacceptable.

Here is the IOCDF guidelines for pediatric OCD medication.

In this week’s episode of the AT Parenting Survival Podcast, I talk to Cameron Kleimo, a mom, therapist and creator of Sensory Mom, who has a similar story to my own. Her graduate program didn’t teach her how to spot OCD. And it wasn’t until she was stumped by her own child’s behavior that she discovered that they both had OCD.

To learn more about the missed signs of childhood ocd click here.

If you are a mental health professional wanting more training on OCD click here.

To take my class, How to Crush OCD go to:

Www.ATparentingsurvivalschool.com/p/child-ocd

To learn more about Cameron’s work visit her site:

https://www.sensorymom.com/

Also I’d love to invite you to sign up for my FREE 3-part video series: Self-Care for Parents Raising Kids with Anxiety or OCD. Learn how to shift your mindset, read your body and super size your support to be more effective in helping your child and yourself!

Sign up below. Series starts January 21st, 2020:

https://anxioustoddlers.lpages.co/video-series (for parents of kids and teens of all ages)

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Click anywhere on the text to be taken to that part of the show and hear it. Please excuse any inaccuracies, as this is automatically generated and may have errors.

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This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be used to replace the guidance of a qualified professional.

To get on the waitlist for my SPACE Online Study Guide Course, text the word SPACEPROGRAM to 44222 or click here: https://anxious-toddlers-llc.ck.page/7300c6ee54

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Classes include:

How to Crush Social Anxiety

http://www.ATparentingsurvivalschool.com/p/crush-social-anxiety

 

Parenting Kids with OCD 

http://www.ATparentingsurvivalschool.com/p/child-ocd

 

Crush Moral OCD in Kids

http://www.ATparentingsurvivalschool.com/p/moral-ocd

 

Teaching Kids to Crush Anxiety

http://www.ATparentingsurvivalschool.com/p/crush-anxiety

 

Helping Kids with Anxiety or OCD Through Difficult Behaviors

http://www.ATparentingsurvivalschool.com/p/difficult-behaviors

 

Helping Kids Who are Scared to Sleep

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Handling Sensory-Based Anxiety

http://www.ATparentingsurvivalschool.com/p/sensory-anxiety

 

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https://www.ATparentingsurvival.com/reduce-child-anxiety/ 

 

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