Identifying Obsessive Compulsive Disorder at School and Learn How to Transform Negative OCD`s Features in Positive Aspects for Self-development
By Daniela Silva
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is characterized by the constant presence of preoccupations, repetitive behaviors (rituals) and recurrent and persistent thoughts that lead to great suffering and malaise in the child’s life.
OCD in childhood appears gradually, reaching the age group of 6 to 11 years of age, and may be of environmental origin (through daily living with a relative who manifests the disorder) or due to inherent personality traits of the child (extremely perfectionist, anxious, or craving the constant approval of others).
In the school environment, OCD has a strong impact on learning. There can be declining academic performances, attention and concentration difficulties, and in more extreme cases can cause school dropout. In the daily conviviality of the child with colleagues it is common for the child to disguise the symptoms of the disorder for fear of being ridiculed or deprecated by the group.
Parents and teachers may also be aware of dermatological problems in the child’s hands (due to excessive hand washing), as well as the appearance of skin lesions or abrasions (by constantly scratching, rubbing, scratching, or bruising the area).
There is also a range of behaviors (rituals) manifested by the youth or the child during the school routine that can be a warning sign for educators and professionals who also work in school:
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- Excessive organization of personal belongings such as: notebooks, cabinets, binders, pencils, rubber and pens on the table and backpack position (always the same way).
- Exaggerated personal hygiene and self-care, such as constant trips to the bathroom.
- Frequent hand asepsis, which may result in pain, swelling, rash or bleeding of the hands.
- Presence of tears, marks or holes in notebooks due to an extreme use of rubber erasures on the paper.
- Too much slowness in the same activity as a result of a perfectionist atitude.
- Abundant checks (at the end of a lesson) of personal belongings on the table or under the desk in an attempt to make sure that he or she has not forgotten anything
- Refusal to touch the belongings of classmates such as notebooks, pencils, erasers, pens, or even feel bad when someone manipulates some of their belongings
- Present repetitive pattern behaviors, such as walking without stepping on stripes, colored tiles, counting tiles or cars passing by on the street, intermittent repetition of numbers or syllables that come into the head.
- Opening doors, cabinets, windows, drawers and other compartments of the classroom without using the fingers (only using one side of the hands or in some cases using one side of the body).
- Stop eating, sleep or socialize for weeks to memorize school matter for a future event (i.e. a test) that has not yet happened.
The other side of coin: positive and peculiars talents of OCD minds.
- Creativity is in the details. The person with OCD is very detailed in the development of activities that he/she performs, wishing that everything needs to be very well organized and correct in the most perfect order.
Extra class activities involving drawing, plastic arts (such as sculpture and painting), spots, cutting and sewing, cooking, photography, writing composition, and learning new idioms or musical instruments are good examples of practices that relieve anxiety and stress.
In order to relieve the negative obsessive thoughts and consequently the anxiety, here it are some suggestions of activities that a child can perform:
- Critical and analytical thinking. The detailed observation of the person with OCD causes him/her to develop a high ability to think in a critical and thorough manner about a particular action or object. This ability is highly valued in tasks involving leadership and strategic planning, whether in work environments or in academic projects, for example.
- Empathy, solidarity and willingness to help. Being in pain due to a mental disorder or emotional conflict causes the child to become more sensitivitive and pay attention to the needs of others. Thus, the child can put him/herself in the place of the other person, seeking to understand the other person to help him/her. A good activity is to divert the focus from one’s own disorder to help someone else in distress or need, such as volunteering, participating in self-help groups and donating clothing or food for campaigns or social projects.