Melissa Mose, OCD Treatment Center Expert, Debunks Top Teen OCD Myths

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OCD Treatment Expert, Melissa Mose, identifies the most common misconceptions parents have regarding teens affected by OCD and provides suggestions for parents on how best to handle situations that may arise if they have already been implementing parenting decisions based on these misconceptions.


Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT) and OCD treatment expert, Melissa Mose, was recently interviewed by Small Business Trendsetters Magazine for the first of a three part series about successfully parenting teens with OCD.


The first interview focused on the top myths & misconceptions many parents have about OCD as well as the potential negative ramifications these beliefs may unintentionally cause the children attempting to cope with OCD.


Mose discussed the negative impact parents may have on their teens while operating under the belief of myths such as: OCD is a reaction to stress, so reducing expectations will help. Though OCD often gets worse in times of stress, difficult life situations do not cause OCD, so reducing stress and pressure will not fix it.


She goes on to expose one of the most prevalent misconceptions regarding OCD, that OCD is all about hand-washing and checking things over and over again. This type of compulsion, a favorite of TV and movies, is only a small part of a much larger realm of compulsions. Compulsions parents may not even recognize as being a result of OCD.


According to Mose, “not all people with OCD are obsessively neat, clean and orderly. In fact, sometimes it is quite the opposite. They may actually not feel able to shower or clean their room because of fears of being unable to stop.”


Mose explains compulsions can be almost anything that is done repetitively to get rid of a disturbing thought or bad feeling. This may include compulsively avoiding certain places, or things such as colors or numbers.


Compulsions can also be done mentally which makes them much harder to notice and can even be mistaken for ADHD because it seems the child is not paying attention while in reality they are executing a mental ritual in an attempt to rid themselves of an obsessive thought. This myth keeps children from being properly diagnosed which leads to a wrong course of treatment.


Increasing parents understanding about the real truths of OCD can lead to better parenting decisions and techniques that offer the most benefit to their children’s development.


To read the full article, visit: www.smallbusinesstrendsetters.com/teen-ocd


To learn more about Melissa Mose, LMFT, please visit: www.MelissaMoseMFT.com


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