My 6 year old DS has ADHD. I always thought he also had some OCD traits, but at our last appt., the ped psych said it sounds like anxiety. There behaviors are often there, but worse during rebound. Here are some examples...

Before bedtime, I let him choose a snack. He insist I come into the kitchen, and name EVERY single item in the pantry and fridge. Even if he sees something he wants, he want to know "what else is there?" This is very time consuming.

He was sent to his room today for smacking his sister. When I told him he could come out, I went in to discuss the issue with him first. He ran out and locked himself in my bedroom. I made him return to his room again, so we could discuss this. He then insisted I sit on the bed exactly where I did before, with my feet over the edge, and my back touching the footboard.

After returning from a field trip at school that I chaperoned, I assumed we would walk to our car together. He had a meltdown insisting I get in the car rider line as usual. This upset him very much.

We went to the fair recently. He was standing in line with his cousin, waiting for a ride. He got out of line briefly to check his height. He then went to the back of the long line. I told him he didn't need to get back in line, because his cousin was still in line, and he had a good reason to briefly get out of line. He insisted he would be cutting, and felt VERY strongly about going to the back of the line.

When I say insist, I mean that he sobs so hard that his face gets red splotches, his eyes are full of tears, and he acts like the world will end if I don't don't go along with it.

Any thoughts?

to me it sounds like anxiety and ocd. like the ocd causes him anxiety. i had alot of anxiety issues and if things werent a certain way i would get pretty upset. it was more like i needed to control my surroundings. when i was anxious i would cry or feel like i couldnt breath get light headed and feel like i would faint. also there were times when i just felt like i had too much caffiene. like energy was built up inside me and it would drive me crazy, and i would have butterflies in my stomach. b/c it seems like he is trying to control things and gets upset when he cant control them it seems really like ocd. i think most of the time they go to together. ( not a dr though just my experience) like when my anxiety was gone ( i took lexpapro) i was less likely to obssess over things and was more laid back not getting upset if things werent in order or planned out to the T. and thats the other thing, i had to know exactly what was going to happen at all times for the day or week. what we were going to do after breakfast and at what time and what was after that. well i could go on and on so i hope i have helped some. if u want to know more i can try to help out more. my anxiety is to a minimum now but i had it for years. i wish u and your son the best of luck. also i dont have adhd my almost 7 yr old has it. just thought i would help with the anxiety part from my experience.

kim

cali

OCD is classified as an anxiety disorder. So it makes sense the line may be blurred. What is the proposed plan? Or is there one? Do you plan to treat it? I guess my point is, does it really matter? You, I assume, are just looking for ways to help him. Is there much difference in your treatment options?

We haven't discussed treatment options yet, if there are any. This was brought up at the tailend of our last appt. , so I plan on bringing it up at our appt. in September.

Tonight, when I was sitting on his bed and he was very visibly upset, I felt so bad for him. I had to give him a consequence for smacking his 2 year old sister, but I could see he was generally having a bad time. Looking into his eyes, I saw so much sadness.  He ws so visibly upset INSISTING I do this and that etc.. It's so hard knowing some things aren't a choice for him,  but I have to make his accoutable. Not saying he didn't choose to smack his sister, but he has had a rough afternoon and the anxiety is definitely present.

My child has generalized anxiety disorder, and Zoloft also is helping him.  I've heard others say that Zoloft and other meds are very helpful for OCD. 

When the dr. said anxiety, he/she may have meant an anxiety disorder.  OCD is a type of anxiety disorder.

My son was dx at 3yrs old w/ OCD. Then at 5yrs w/adhd. Then with adhd/aspergers. I was told that alot of the symptoms of all three overlap. So we are left a bit in the dark as to which label is correct.

We are now trying to sort it all out. Even our counselor who specializes in aspergers says he does not neatly fit into any catagory. So we are just treating problematic symptoms as they occur.....