Please help with 12 y.o. son! Don't know what's wrong?

[Pauly J]

Hi there, I have a 12 year old son who has some issues and i am not sure what it is! I recently talked to him and he opened up to me some and i found out that he has some fears about some stuff...in this order. Fear of stranger coming in house and tampering with things that will cause contamination to him, fear of family tampering with things that will cause contamination to him, fear of urine and public restrooms, fears drugs and needles (crack, meth, etc), fears rat tails and rat urine getting in his drinking cup (we have no rats presently, had in the previous home), fears lead poisoning, and fears that soap does not clean well enough! He washes his hand alot and sanitizes alot, too! We have taught him to be clean and about how public restrooms can be dirty and to wash hands well after using, but this is just to much! It sounds to me that he is really concerned with being contaminated and trust issues? Whenever he buys new stuff, such as a backpack, watch, cellphone, or clothing, and if someone touches it he feels he has to return it for another one, he does this often! Also his school shirt touched the ground and he thought it touched pee and he insisted never wearing shirt again, no matter how many times it was washed and cleaned! Please, can you tell me what you think is going on with him! I am gonna make an appointment to see a therapist, but we are all against medication! Please help, Thanks!

[struggling Christian]

It sounds like a classic case of obsessive compulsive disorder. If you are against medication, I would suggest seeing a therapist who specializes in ocd. I have had ocd since childhood and my 11 year old daughter is now having some issues as well.

[Paisleegreen]

Wow, I have been more concerned about things like that now. But more so because I had H1N1 and regular flu last year. I also work with little children once a week and I have my own Grandchildren. So I've really gotten picky about cleanliness more than ever.

But I'm not afraid to pick up a worm, dig in the dirt or hold my pond fish and treat them when they are sick. I know that I will be washing my hands.

It is the "germs" from other peoples' dirty hands that concerns me, and rightly so. I think a therapist with CBT experience can help him.

[AshleyZ]

It sounds like more than trust issues its fear of germs of any kind. Washing hands constantly and fear of germs like that is quite typical of OCD. Its good to talk to a doctor and go from there, even read/study about OCD. Sometimes its brought on by an underlying anxiety or depression, trauma, and sometimes nothing at all. Thats all things you need to look into for yourselves and him.