[Medical Q&A] Why do children also suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder?

Author: Zhang Cheng, Beijing Huilongguan Hospital

Reviewer: Liu Huaqing, Chief Physician, Beijing Huilongguan Hospital

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by recurring obsessive thoughts or compulsive actions, such as repeated hand washing and repeated checking, which cause pain to oneself, seriously affecting social life and making it impossible to study and live normally.

Many people think that children are carefree and have no fixed pressure, so why do they also suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder? In fact, it is difficult to say that children are carefree. From a psychoanalytic perspective, birth is actually a kind of separation and trauma for children. Later, for example, weaning, going to kindergarten, and even if the mother goes to work every day, it is a very anxious and painful thing for the child. Therefore, children are not as carefree as we imagine.

In addition, children's obsessive-compulsive disorder is also related to "extreme love". One extreme is that parents have "high standards and strict requirements", like to preach, not to express feelings, and are demanding of their children, often criticizing and denying their children. Children in this family environment may have a higher incidence of obsessive-compulsive disorder. The other extreme is that parents overindulge their children, take care of everything for them, and replace all the development, hands-on skills, and social interaction skills of their children. In this case, once the children go to school and enter a new environment, they will not be able to bear it and will be beaten back to their original state, and obsessive-compulsive disorder will be more likely to occur.