[lotusdebi]

I posted this in Mental Health, but got no replies, so I'm trying here...

My 6 year old son has recently started expressing distress over having obsessive thoughts. It has happened twice so far, and it seems to worry him a lot. The first time, April 1st, the thought that got stuck in his head was, "I have skin. I want to see my bones." He said he thought that was from a show (cartoon) he watched the day before. Yesterday, the thought he said was stuck in his head was, "I am a mermaid" because he dreamed that he was a mermaid. He first complained about it in the morning. He mentioned that it was still stuck around 3pm yesterday. He complains that these things get stuck in his head and he can't get them out.

We have a family history of... well... a lot. Depression, bipolar, schizo-affective, schizophrenia, anxiety, OCD, and so on. My son also has a diagnosis of sensory processing disorder and is being evaluated this week by a developmental pediatrician because we have some concern that he's on the autism spectrum.

Is this something I should worry about? Is this normal for kids this age? At what point should I be concerned, if not yet? I do plan to mention this to the dev ped tomorrow, if I remember.

Thank you!

 

[serenetabbie]

My 11 yo son has what I would characterize as "obsessive thoughts" also, and has since about the age of 6. I forget what the therapist called them right now, intrusive thoughts maybe? His are more directly related to his dx of severe anxiety NOS... he get stuck on these loops of "horror thoughts" (his words) of bad things happening that are totally out of his control (earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, etc). Anyhow, the therapist said it is very common in kids with anxiety issues. I would mention it to the ped. if it seems to bother your DS, even if the thoughts seem to be innocuous, if for nothing else than to put your mind at ease.

Edited to add;

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