Hi. I don’t know if anyone will read this. I’ve never blogged before. But then again I never thought that I would have to watch my son suffer with this beast of OCD. I have two wonderful, teenage sons. My younger son, age 15, was born premature and was a "difficult" baby, but a funny, sensitive, loving boy. We first noticed an OCD behavior after we moved to a new house and new school withing a month of each other when he was in fourth grade. He started having odd thoughts of "bad luck if I touch" this or that, the number 3 was "unlucky," moving the remote multiple times, blinking his eyes if he "saw a corner," etc. With medication, he stopped the behaviors and eventually adjusted to the school and house. He happened to have ADD diagnosed in 5th grade with a positive response to a medication. Since then, he had made lots of friends (kind of a "class clown"), joined the school footbal and basketball teams.
In June of 2007, my dear father passed away due to Cancer. Our younger son took it very hard and fell into a deep depression. He lost weight and soon developed a severe anxiety disorder–OCD obsessive thoughts (INTRUSIVE), social phobias and agoraphobic tendency. He even talked about not wanting to live anymore. At one point he obsessed about knives for several months. We had to take all the knives out of the house and hide them. The only TV we could have on when he was awake was ESPN/sports. He described having horror movies running through his mind nonstop. He suffered so much. It was so painful to see this. He was unable to complete his 8th grade last year as he couldn’t make it more than several hours a week. I homeschooled the last half of 8th grade.
He would have panic attacks the night before and morning of ANY vacation/plane trip. So stressful for everyone in the house.
We visited Child Psychiatrists, Naturopathic Doctors, Psychologists, a two-week Outpatient program for adolescents, etc. and spent thousands of dollars. He has made small improvements with each doctor, but no magic bullet. Our biggest concern was him being able to go to school again this past August.
In June, I heard from a client of mine (I am in the health profession/part time) about something called LENS Neurofeedback. In July we began treatment. Within two treatments, his three meds were reduced by 10-50%). He had more energy, happier, less irritable, less Obsessive thoughts, NO MORE panic attacks (took a weekend trip by plane in August), and better mood. We weren’t walking on eggshells anymore. Is he 100%? No. But HE WENT TO SCHOOL. He is on honor roll this first quarter. Yahoo! However, every morning I still sweat with "Is he or isn’t he" going to get up easily, get dressed and get into car to go to school today. He has missed 6 days since school started end of August. I am thrilled by his progress, but riddled with concerns every-stinking-morning, whether he’s going to make it to school or not that day.
I feel like I have Post-Traumatic-Stress from dealing with this living hell on earth we have ALL gone through. OCD doesn’t just happen to that person, it happens to the whole family. I plan, coordinate, take him to all doctor appointments, administer meds and vitamins, B12 injections, reassure ("counsel"), encourage, comfort, chauffer, cook healthy for him. I am so worn out. However, the LENS Neurofeedback treatment has shown the quickest, safest and most hopeful promise for the future. I have been frustrated and dissappointed with the Medical Professionals (Mental Health) for not mentioning this treatment a YEAR ago. Perhaps we could have bypassed some of his suffering… However, I have chosen to let that GO. I figure ignorance is bliss for them. The blinders many M.D.’s have on are sometimes one-track (i.e Medications).
Therefore, I have made the decision to fly to California soon and buy the system and get the training myself. I am going to treat my son at home, any family members who need it, AND eventually incorporate this into providing this service to other suffering children, teens or adults into this area. This OCD beast has held this household captive long enough. It pains me to read the chat rooms of so many suffering victims of this debiliating beast. That is why I am WARRIORMOM!
God Bless You All, fellow OCD households. warriormom
-You are awesome! What great parents you are. I’m an OCD person, my 12 year old son has ADD, which is hard enough to deal with, at this point he does not have OCD…thank god. Can you give me more information about this system? It sounds really interesting. Welcome to the tribe, this is a great place to find support.
Thanks again,
Blue
Thank you Blue and Julia for your kind comments. Blue, you can Google more on "LENS Neurofeedback" online, and "Len Ochs, Ph.D." the developer of the Neurofeedback system. You can read up on traditional Neurofeedback treatments (some take 20-40 sessions for moderate improvements)–treatment is sort of like "physical therapy for the brain waves" that are not at the right levels/amplitudes. My understanding is that with traditional Neurofeedback, the client plays a special videogame where it will not let you Proceed or Win until you focus your brainwaves at a certain level (they attach two electrode/wires with gel to your head). It is not painful or uncomfortable. It is completely safe. With LENS Neurofeedback, the treatment is done TO you. It takes just 5-10 seconds for the "radiowave" to feedback to the clients electrodes on each of 3-4 directed points on the head. Nurses, Physical Therapists, Chiropractors in some states, M.D.’s, Psychologists, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Counselors can buy the system ($5,000-7,000) and administer treatments.
Julia, thank you for your supportive comments. The beast won’t ruin our lives. We were temporarily held captive by it, but are moving away from the tight grip. Thank God.
warriormom