obsessive confessions

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my eight-year old is obsessed with confessing and has to tell me everything he's fearing at the moment (aliens, death etc) and things he feels guilty about such as thinking other bad/negative thoughts.

I've been checking out some OCD threads and wondering....he definitely gets stuck on images/thoughts and it sticks for awhile despite his not wanting it. He's filled with anxiety at times over these thoughts. Not sure what to do next. It seems like this is really intruding the older he gets. I'm waiting for it to pass. Today, tearfully, he said these thoughts were "harrassing him"...I thought this was an interesting way of putting it. I had explained what harrassment mean tto him, previously, because he heard the term sexual harrassment and asked about it.

Does this sound like OCD?

Any help would be appreciated. We are working with psychologist at school and I'm seeking out a new therapist in our area. Before this moment, he was doing beautifully at school despite some attentional issues.

try to get to the heart of whether or not he really truly feels that aliens exist, or whether this is just a fear......if it's just a fear, and racing bad/negative thoughts, then my guess is that it's anxiety........... anxiety is a common comorbid symptom of aspergers. my son and hubby both deal with this. the anxiety can be overwhelming. we've done therapy, meds, no meds, meditation, yoga............what works for us is a combination of therapy and meds. son was the one to try meditation & yoga, but gave up very quickly-said the anxiety and racing thoughts remained no matter how hard he tried.....he has just recently begun expressing interest in meditation again as a possible replacement for sleep meds....will let you know if things subside for him.

ive got an obession to confess. well several actually

I am obsessed with tv shows such as dr who, life on mars,
Cartoons such as, The grim adventures of billy and mandy.

XD just putting in an imput XD

Does he "confess" the negative stuff at a much higher ratio than discussing, announcing other stuff? My son just says whatever, 24/7. To me, at me, with me, he still echoes and apes. So, in there seems to be an obsession with confessing too. But he's really just saying everything with equal importance-which NTs learn to suppress. He makes up confessions too because of the confusion with emotions (guilt, sorrow, jealousy, embarrassment) like he's role playing.

My son does the same thing. Initially, I was concerned about OCD.

But, I figured out that my son didn't realize that everyone has negative thoughts. He thought he was the only one!! ! When he confesses a negative thought, I tell him that's completely normal. When I point out that everyone else does that too, he drops it.

Yes, it's starting to subside--but it's always replaced by a new one and then he's stuck. I think the inability to control his thoughts is what makes him the most afraid. I tell him that these thoughts are okay and won't hurt him.

As for aliens, it's a fear that they might exist. He's never claimed to have heard one or seen one, so I'm sure he's not delusional. He's afraid of anything, lately, that is not part of his physical reality--ghosts, aliens, even his own thougths. I do agree that anxiety is probably the catalyst.

I don't want him on medication at such a young age.

equinn

i absolutely understand about not wanting him on meds so young.............that's why i mentioned yoga and meditation-these have been suggested to son & hubby as alternatives. you might think about trying to find calming techniques that work for your son-something that he could eventually do to help self-soothe.

He's starting sports and I will definitely consider karate or tae kwan doe. I agree that exercise is an excellent alternative.

I would only consider meds if he stopped eating and became severly depressed. He is anxious right now, but we've been here before and we've overome it. His older brother just returned to California after being here for a week. It's left our house with this void. I notice it. He can't articulate that it's his brother he misses, but I do think this is part of it.

We've had quite a few changes over the past couple months --move, new school--

I seem to recall that spring makes him like this--worries about approaching end of school year believe it or not.

thanks for your excellent advice!

equinn