Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Helping Children & Adolescents

By Mitzi Waltz
First Edition April 2000
Pages: 404
ISBN 10: 1-56592-758-3 | ISBN 13: 9781565927582

Book description

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is one of the most common psychiatric problems faced by children. Childhood OCD can be a truly debilitating disability, not just a minor problem or personality quirk. The good news is that it is very treatable. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder helps parents secure a diagnosis, manage family life, understand medical interventions, explore therapeutic interventions, get care within their existing healthcare plan, and navigate the special education system.
Full Description

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is one of the most common psychiatric problems faced by children, although frequently not diagnosed or treated. OCD is a neurological illness. Many children diagnosed with OCD also turn out to have other brain-based disorders, particularly attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD). Psychiatrists sometimes categorize patients who have certain common OCD behaviors as "counters," "cleaners," "checkers," and "hoarders." Childhood OCD can be a truly debilitating disability, not just a minor problem or personality quirk. Children with OCD experience extreme anxiety, embarrassment, sometimes even harassment, because of this disorder. Their OCD symptoms often prevent them from building good relationships, from achieving their best in school, and from having a normal childhood. The effects of this disruption can be painful and lifelong. The good news is that OCD is very treatable. With prompt, consistent intervention, most young people with OCD can wrest back control of their lives. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder helps parents:

Secure an accurate and complete diagnosis
Live with OCD in the family: using effective parenting techniques, building support systems, and handling difficult issues
Understand medical interventions
Explore therapeutic and other interventions, such as cognitive therapy and vitamins or supplements
Get care with an existing health plan, even with no coverage of "mental disorders"
Navigate the special education system

Author Mitzi Waltz, an advocate for children's neurological issues, has included the stories of dozens of parents and adolescents.

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Cover | Table of Contents | Index | Sample Chapter

Book details

First Edition: April 2000
ISBN: 1-56592-758-3
Pages: 404

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Media reviews

"Author Mitzi Waltz presents a superior guide on this complex neurological illness, with thorough and thoughtful attention to every subtopic imaginable: causes; consequences; diagnosis (including rare conditions and related disorders); therapeutic, medical, and alternative intervention; insurance issues; schooling; and transitions. Each chapter reads easily as it unravels the intricacies associated with OCD, but never sacrifices detail. Most helpful are Waltz's comprehensive list of medications (including generic names, side effects, known interaction hazards, and special tips), her critical chapter on the turbulent school years, and the resource section that includes the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale for assessing symptoms. Herself the mother of two children diagnosed with OCD, Waltz speaks candidly, empowering parents to make critical choices for their child's treatment and to employ successful coping skills for daily living. Her opinions--and those quoted from parents traveling the same road--offer additional, firsthand knowledge that smartly supports each topic. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Help for Children and Adolescents is an extremely valuable tool for parents, teens with OCD, and child therapists as well."
--Amazon.com editorial review

"An information-packed guide for parents of children with obsessive- compulsive disorder (OCD), a neurological illness that causes psychiatric symptoms. Describes symptoms and theories on causes, and gives advice on getting a diagnosis, living with OCD, therapeutic and medical interventions, insurance issues, and school and transition. Includes 40 pages of resource listings, and a 16-page assessment scale. The author is a journalist, writer, and editor. She has personal experience with OCD as a patient and as a parent."
--Book News

"Waltz, who successfully coped with obsessive compulsive disorder(OCD) as a child and as a mother of two children diagnosed with OCD,offers an informative guide to the causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of the illness. An extensive list of treatment and resource centers, books, Web sites, and online discussion groups is particularly valuable."--Alan Rees, "Alan Rees on Consumer Health," A MAJOR Report

"Family members searching for information about obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and about the difficult behaviors that often accompany it and disrupt family life will welcome this volume."
--NAMI Advocate, Spring 2002 (National Association of Mental Illness)

"This book should be on the 'wish list' for every child therapist or psychiatrist; it will certainly be on mine. Ms. Waltz discusses portions of OCD treatment and understanding not found in other books on the subject. It gives doctors and parents alike an educational light to shine on a disorder shrouded in darkness and shame." --Jim Hatton, Ph.D., MFCC, Director, San Diego Regional Program for OCD/Trichotillomania

"Mitzi Waltz has put together a marvelous guide to OCD for children and families. Besides providing a comprehensive and understandable overview of diagnosis and treatment, the book provides a wonderful entry into the worlds of school and insurance reimbursement, topics that are important and for which good information is hard to find. More than a self-help manual, this book will be a wonderful resource for patient and professional alike. Highly recommended." --John S. March, MD, MPH, Author of OCD in Children and Adolescents: A Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Manual

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