u/ExpressionOk7833

We have an appointment with a psychologist next week but I wanted to see if anybody else has a take on what he’s going through before that.

My son has always been a bit of a worrier. But the last two years it has developed into strong OCD symptoms. Excessive hand washing was the first thing we noticed. After that was checking if the doors are unlocked. Fear of me or his mom going to sleep before he does. Minor rituals like having to reply to his good night text in a specific way and order or else he wants it done over again properly.

And lately this one has been the heaviest burden for him it seems like, as well as myself. He gets intrusive thoughts. He tells me ALL of them and only me. On one hand I realize he trusts me completely, on the other hand I feel his “confessions” are part of the compulsion.

Intrusive thoughts are pretty alarming things at face value like racial/homophobic slurs, sexual thoughts, deep regret for things he did, thoughts like “if this happens my parents will die” and then expecting me to say “of course that’s not true, I won’t”

I’ve already tried explaining it logically, how this or that is normal or how you can’t fault yourself for every thing that pops in your head (as long as you don’t act on it). I say just acknowledge that you had an intrusive thought “yep that happened” and then move on.

Lately I’ve just been refusing to engage completely with the confessions and say I’m sorry you feel really anxious right now and that I’ve already explained everything so do the two steps (acknowledge, move on)

I guess my question is:

Has anyone dealt with children like this and what should I expect for the future? Will these compulsions ever go away? I worry for his quality of life. Aside from the anxiety, he’s an otherwise happy kid, very social, loves to talk, great sense of humour with a lot of friends. But the other half of the time I can see he is not at ease, distracted by anxiety and thoughts and it hurts me to see him tormented by it.

I prefer reading to watching videos. I know and do the basics of YNAB but want to see if I can be exposed to more interesting uses or applications or more effective methods.

I play on PS5 and Switch. Before quitting I was very into factory games like Factorio and Satisfactory but they immediately became way too brain intensive and tedious due to the restless state I’m in.

Did manage to entertain or at least distract myself going through some of my son’s old Switch games like Mario Odyssey.

Looking for something that’s not too story driven or complicated but that I could make time fast-forward with a little bit.

I’ve been taking 20-30gpd for a while. For the past 10 years, I’ve been on kratom for 95% of the time, the 5% being previous quit attempts or breaks. A few month long quits in there before starting up again.

This quit attempt has just been so much worse than previous ones. I committed to dealing with the addiction starting this Monday (3 days ago) since I have two weeks scheduled off work.

Day 1 was supposed to be CT but I didn’t even bother tapering beforehand, leading up to the date like I usually do. So I think because of that, going from 30gpd to zero, I was just hit really hard. Emotionally and physically. Couldn’t think of my son without choking up in tears remembering any times I said I’m too busy to play with him.

So that first night I just couldn’t tolerate being so horribly uncomfortable in my body when I should be sleeping so I took 3g to sleep. I took 3g the next night and last night I took 1.5g.

So I’m wondering if by keeping a nightly 1.5 dose for a bit longer is screwing up my recovery timeline? Or fine?

I have a little 2 day trip I’ve committed to going on in one week and then the Monday after next week is back to work so I strongly want to feel semi-functional for that.

I’ve always wondered this. Most recently from watching The Crash on Netflix but there are of course so many more.

It’s just always struck me as odd that so many friends and family members are willing to do these documentaries. Re-live traumatic memories, open themselves to potential criticism or abuse. And the majority of people watching the documentary are just on the couch watching it for cheap entertainment while eating a bag of chips..

Some you can see that the people involved want to share their truth or gain support and awareness for a cause. Or realize a certain outcome like a legal consequence.

BUT still a lot of people involved just seem to be there for no specific reason.

Is it as simple as they just want to be on TV and get a little moment of fame? Does Netflix give significant payouts as incentives?

If it were me, I would absolutely not participate in anything like it. Unless it was something like a missing child and we needed as much awareness and public support as possible.

My 9yo son has been interested in basketball. So I was wondering if there was a good group to join OR maybe an active spot indoor or outdoor for messing around/pick-up games. That isn’t completely filled with adults or late teens. We both have the access Gatineau cards