QUESTION:
Dear Dr. Heller,
Let me first give you a little background. I am a 27 yr old female taking Novo-Sertraline for depression and I have a 4 yr old son who has been diagnosed with Autism. My question however, revolves around my 5 yr old daughter. She has recently (in the past six months), began to "obsess" that all the doors in our house be kept closed. She will wait outside the bathroom for example to close the door after someone has left. She has also been hoarding strange items into her bedroom (baby rattles, blankets, whatever) and stuffing them under her bed, all along the perimeter of her room, in front of her closet, and in her closet. She has developed a strange idea of where and how things should be put away, i.e. shoelaces should be tucked inside shoes when not being worn, and the computer mouse must be at a certain angle on the mousepad. She has been referred to a Pediatrician in Ontario, Canada. However, these waits can be long and our appointment is seven months in the future. Can you tell me if this does indeed sound like OCD? Could it be related to my son's disabilities or my own?
I appreciate your taking the time to answer this question.
ANSWER:
1) Yes, 5 year olds can have OCD, and your description is consistent
with that diagnosis.
2) It's unlikely to be related to those disabilities, unless
genetic diagnoses are also present such as the generalized anxiety disorder and OCPD.
Interesting recent research implicates OCD occurring 25% of the time as a response to
strep throat. This has not been proven.
