If Your Child with OCD Needs Some Encouragement

We can all use some inspiration at times.  Although there are many luminaries who have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), your child may not be familiar with most of them.  But many will know about Harry Potter.  Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who plays Potter, acknowledged publicly that he had been diagnosed at age 5 with OCD and that it used to take him 5 minutes to turn off a light.   He no longer suffers from OCD, he reports.

 

Recruiting Participants for Study on the Benefits of Exercise on Childhood Tourette syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Symptoms

A doctoral candidate in psychology sent me her institutional review board approval for this study and asked me to post the recruitment notice:

Participants sought for a study exploring the possible benefits of aerobic exercise on children and adolescents with Tourette syndrome (TS) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The study has received Institutional Review Board approval from Hofstra University, New York.

Children and adolescents ages 8-16 diagnosed with both TS and OCD are eligible to participate in a 6-week, 12-session aerobic exercise program. All sessions will be conducted in the participants’ home for ease and convenience.

Each exercise session will take approximately 30 minutes. Two-three 15-minute interviews will be conducted prior to beginning the exercise intervention, and one interview will be conducted one month after the end of the exercise intervention. Participants who complete the study and follow-up will receive $250.

Participants can be on medication, but cannot be undergoing medication changes during the study.

Study Location: Long Island, New York

For additional information or to sign up, contact Loren Packer-Hopke, M.S. via telephone: 516-359-0859 or e-mail: lpackerhopke@yahoo.com

And yes, in the interests of full disclosure: the doctoral candidate is related to me, but the study is her own and has been approved by her university.

Of Tics and Compulsions: Brain Imaging Teases Apart Tourette’s and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Anyone who has parented, taught, or treated individuals with both Tourette syndrome (TS) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) knows how difficult it can be at times to tease out whether something is a complex tic or a compulsion.  Can brain imaging help us?  Melinda Wenner Moyer writes in the September issue Scientific American:

… Now a new study published in Neurology may help scientists further understand how the disorders overlap and differ by revealing several key differences in the brain activity of Tourette’s patients with and without OCD.

Andrew Feigin and his colleagues at North Shore LIJ Health System in Manhasset, N.Y., scanned the brains of 12 unmedicated Tourette’s patients—some of whom also had OCD—and 12 healthy subjects using positron-emission tomography, which reveals patterns of brain activity. Compared with healthy controls, those who had Tourette’s exhibited more activity in the premotor cortex and cerebellum, regions that handle motor control, and less activity in the striatum and orbitofrontal cortex, areas involved in decision making and learning. These findings support the idea that the symptoms of the disorder may arise from the brain’s inability to suppress abnormal actions using decision-making skills.

When the researchers compared the Tourette’s patients who had OCD with those who did not, they found that the patients who had both disorders exhibited greater activity in the primary motor cortex and precuneus, an area that plays a role in self-awareness. Previous research has suggested that in patients who suffer from both disorders, OCD might show up more in the form of compulsions than obsessions, and these findings support that idea: the increased activity of the precuneus may reflect individuals’ efforts and ability to resist obsessive thought, and the motor cortex may be more active because OCD is manifesting itself more physically than mentally.

 

The full article is only available to those who subscribe to or have access to Scientific American

An important new resource on OCD in school

Parents and educators looking for information on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and its impact on school functioning, do check out this new book by Dr. Gail B. Adams: Students with OCD: A Handbook for School Personnel.  Dr. Adams draws upon her decades of professional experience and provides a comprehensive yet down-to-earth presentation of this important topic.

For other resources on OCD, see the OCD Resources page of my companion blog, ChallengingKids.com

Join Me at an All-Day Workshop for Educators & Parents on December 5th

I’ll be conducting an all-day workshop for educators on Monday, December 5, 2011 at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord, New Hampshire. The event is sponsored by the University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability and is geared to regular and special education teachers, school psychologists and social workers, behavior specialists, occupational therapists, administrators, and parents.

Description:

Neurological disorders that emerge in childhood often have significant impact on students’ academic, behavioral, and social-emotional functioning. Participants will learn about the cardinal features of Tourette’s Syndrome, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Executive Dysfunction, Mood Disorders such as Depression and Bipolar Disorder, and the memory deficits, sensory issues and “storms” that sometimes accompany them. Strategies and assistive technology to accommodate symptom interference in activities such as handwriting, homework, math calculation, and written expression and big projects will be described. Pitfalls in behavioral interventions, and simple social skills and problem-solving interventions will also be identified.

For more information on the workshop and registration information, download the brochure or register online at www.iod.unh.edu.

Hope to see you there!

 

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