Obsessiveness In Teenagers
Everyone has times in their lives when intrusive thoughts take center stage, but for obsessive teenagers, these fears can be debilitating, affecting school, work and social life. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders classifies these obsessions as an anxiety disorder referred to as obsessive-compulsive disorder. Because living with obsessiveness can be so challenging, teens and other individuals diagnosed with OCD receive protections in the workplace, public domain, transportation, telecommunications and state and local government operations, under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
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OCD
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Obsession is a key feature of OCD. Anxiety-provoking thoughts characterize the disorder in teens, often occurring countless times throughout the day. Irrational compulsions usually accompany the obsessions, resulting in nagging rituals that can consume large chunks of time in a teenager̵7;s life. According to HealthyChildren.org, many of these teen obsessions focus on germs and cleaning rituals, while other obsessions consume the teen mind with overwhelming feelings of forgetfulness, which cause the teen to check, recheck and check again that a task is complete.
Causes
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While the cause of obsessive thoughts is unknown, experts suspect that serotonin may be to blame. When serotonin -- a brain chemical -- flow is blocked, the brain is unable to filter out unrealistic thoughts, and instead focuses on them. According to TeensHealth, imaging studies reveal that those with OCD have different brain patterns than those who do not. Building evidence also shows that OCD may run in families, suggesting that serotonin imbalances may have a genetic link.
Diagnosis
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The sooner obsessive behaviors are diagnosed and treated, the less likely a teen is to develop symptoms that are more problematic in the future. Parents who suspect that their teen may have obsessive behaviors should seek an evaluation by a psychiatrist or qualified health care provider. To qualify as OCD, the obsessions must be so severe that they interfere with a teen̵7;s everyday life. According to the Children̵7;s Hospital of Pittsburgh website, symptoms associated with OCD consume at least an hour or more of a teenager̵7;s day, diminish mental functions and produce psychological distress.
Treatment
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After an OCD diagnosis, therapy is usually the next step. Therapists use cognitive-behavioral therapy that instructs teenagers on how to change their obsessive thoughts. According to TeenHealth, CBT helps to reset the parts of the brain that are triggering the OCD symptoms. Along with CBT, some teenagers also find that joining an OCD support group where they can talk to others with the same challenges enhances the therapy process. In conjunction with therapy, some therapists may also prescribe prescription medications to relieve symptoms. Even with therapy and medication, it is important for a teen to understand that it can take months to years before he feels completely free of his obsessions.
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