Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Helping Children & Adolescents (Patient Centered Guides)

To the outside world, a child who exhibits an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)--manifested by constant counting, cleaning, checking, or hoarding--often seems "tuned out" from reality. But for the estimated 3 million-plus people driven to perform such ritualistic behaviors, just the opposite is true: most are painfully aware of their heightened perceptions. Left untreated, a child with OCD can suffer from debilitating anxiety and embarrassment, far beyond the normal levels most healthy kids experience during their school years.

Author Mitzi Waltz presents a superior guide on this complex neurological illness, with thorough and thoughtful attention to every subtopic imaginable: causes; consequences; diagnosis (including rare conditions and related disorders); therapeutic, medical, and alternative intervention; insurance issues; schooling; and transitions. Each chapter reads easily as it unravels the intricacies associated with OCD, but never sacrifices detail. Most helpful are Waltz's comprehensive list of medications (including generic names, side effects, known interaction hazards, and special tips), her critical chapter on the turbulent school years, and the resource section that includes the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale for assessing symptoms. Herself the mother of two children diagnosed with OCD, Waltz speaks candidly, empowering parents to make critical choices for their child's treatment and to employ successful coping skills for daily living. Her opinions--and those quoted from parents traveling the same road--offer additional, firsthand knowledge that smartly supports each topic. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Help for Children and Adolescents is an extremely valuable tool for parents, teens with OCD, and child therapists as well. --Liane Thomas