Why do you think parents refuse to acknowledge their children's mental illnesses? Ranging from depression, anxiety to OCD and personality disorders.
Every parent wants their children to be healthy and successful people. A broken bone or a case of the flu is usually no biggie. And chronic diseases like diabetes can fit right into a politician’s public family image. But mental illness still carries a stigma that physical illness does not.And so parents who are particularly concerned about their reputation, and about themselves and/or their child being perceived as “normal” and happy, would rather push their child’s mental health problems under the rug, than openly deal with it.Obviously, this is more than just unfortunate, but is unethical, in my opinion. If they are ignorant, that's one thing, but if they are in denial, that's a different problem.It's imperative that anyone, child or adult, gets the help they need for mental illness.If you liked this answer, click the light blue button below so more people will see this on Quora.
If I have severe OCD can I still be a good parent or would my kids be better off with relatives?
I’m a mother and I have OCD.Actually edit that: I’m a great mother and I also happen to have OCD.There are many forms of OCD people can have. I have it and quite frankly it’s exhausting. I have my repetitive rituals I do every single day and night. I have to do them. At least I feel I do…Lily Carter's answer to What does it feel like to have OCD?I mean I logically know that if I don’t tap my foot two times before leaving my son’s room at night nothing bad will happen. I know that if I don’t touch certain random objects 4 times or change the direction of the milk jug just so no matter how many times, that bad and ominous things won’t happen. I realize if everything isn’t done at an even number at my house, that bad luck isn’t sure to follow. Touching the door knob or faucet repeatedly till it feels right isn’t necessary. I do all these things and so much more daily…I know logically it’s not necessary. But the OCD part of myself will cause me extreme anxiety or I will get nauseous at the thought of not doing it. That bad things will for sure happen if I don’t do these things. I’ll have a panic attack or I’ll throw up. It’s easier to just do these things quickly and move on. But, I’m still a great mother.My son gets genuine love and affection every single day by both myself and his dad. He loves the park and making friends. He loves to help me cook and bake weekly. Our refrigerator and pantry is always full of everything he could ever want to eat. I read books with him every single day. We play together everyday. His closet and dresser is filled with clean clothes and he has more clothes than I do in fact. He earns an allowance. He does chores. He’s well adjusted. He’s happy. Im happy. His father and I are happy together. We are a genuinely happy family!OCD affects me daily. I however have made it my responsibility to never ever let that effect my son negatively. And I never will.He just turned 4 this month…and he’s my life!So, yes, you can be a great parent! You really can!
Could OCD parents be the cause of Autism ?
i agree, i just posted a similar question and got quite a bit of negative feedback, but no answers. Why is it such an off the wall question to suggest parenting is the cause of such a thing? It doesn't mean that they are a BAD parent. A child could already be predisposed to have such traits and then the way a caregiver treats that child perpetuates the problem. Much like a mom who gives her child every toy they want because she loves her. The mom isn't trying to spoil the child, nor does she think she is doing anything wrong. And I too have heard of the "Refrigerator Mom" theory and it was debunked BEFORE it was ever researched! It sounds like a pretty plausible idea to me! But we don't want to say that. Instead we would rather assume something else is detaching 10% of children from socializing. I completely agree with you. I think an extreme parent, on either end of the spectrum, causes Autism, usually. Just like you said, we are who we are by the time we are 5, so once a parent figures out that there is a problem, they focus in on the LABEL rather than the problem. Why do Autistic kids always do so well outside, in nature, with there loved ones? Because they are getting the chance to connect with those they love, distracted by doctors, books, labels, meds, organic food, and everything else that reminds them how different they are. I think Autism is nothing more than shyness. As simple as that sounds, it is a child who is so insecure with themselves AND their world that they created their own. Sadly, we would rather blame anything else but ourselves.
I'm having OCD since I was 10 but my parents still don't believe that & refuse to take me to a psychologist because it's shameful in our society?
This really depends on the individual suffering , and the severity of the disorder.As others have said, school consultant would be a good idea to start with. If you have a psychologist at school is even better, start by talking to them about your experience with the disorder and the symptoms you are suffering from.You can as well surf the web and read A LOT about OCD and other related mental disorders. Try signing in different online OCD/ anxiety/ depression communities . Also FAQ pages could be a great help. as a personal point of view, I am suffering from OCD for twelve years, in the first six years I did not know it was OCD , I was so little informed about mental disorders. those six years were the hardest, my compulsive rituals were at thier highest level back then and I couldn't fight back. However learning about my disorder , digging deep and knowing that im not the only one has helped me a lot in a dealing with the obsessive thoughts and compulsive rituals.Facing my fears and reminding myself daily that this is only in my head and that those thoughts are not real nor rational helped me develop a more stable and realistic view on the situation.The thoughts might always stay in your head, but the ability of fighting them back with reason would surly increase. However I do recommend you insist on visiting a specialist, if not in the meantime then later on in your life, it is very important.