Support for Carers, Friends and Parents
Hello,
My son, who is a very healthy and happy eight year old, started developing a touching compulsion a few months ago. We have not yet sought professional advice, but will do so soon.
The compulsion involves touching the floor or ground, repeatedly, and in a slightly ritualistic fashion (he uses both hands, with the tips of the fingers and makes a circular pattern). This happens pretty frequently (maybe a hundred times or more in a day), but is fast enough that it doesn't really interfere with his day. The compulsion itself is not too concerning, except when he does it while crossing the road or something like that (we try to avoid that by reminding him to think about all the steps in crossing the road like looking both ways for cars and having an awareness of what all the other road users are doing). He has no other compulsions that we are aware of.
His mother and I have tried to be fairly relaxed about raising the issue with him. We don't want him to become too anxious about his compulsion. He doesn't appear to associate the compulsion with particularly obsessive thoughts beyond "my brain makes me touch the floor", but the compulsion itself does seem to be a source of some worry for him.
My plan at this point is to have a private discussion with our GP (I don't want to involve our son directly unless it's really necessary, as drawing attention to the compulsion seems to make it worse).
I wonder if the parents and sufferers here have any advice about this situation - about managing the compulsion or about approaching medical professionals? Obviously, my hope is that it resolves itself and does not turn into a diagnosable OCD or tourettes, but I also don't want us to do anything that might exacerbate the situation.
Regards
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