Thank you for your support. No one wants to talk about mental illness so it can be very lonely. Thank you for your suggestion re the OCD Fact Sheet it very explained my son's condition perfectly. I will show this to our relatives. It was hard to find the right help as you need someone who specialises in OCD treatment. We found a psychologist at The Emotional Health Clinic at Macquarie University. The psychologist is using a combination of CBT therapy and exposure therapy. My son has now been seeing them for a year. Up until Christmas 2015 my son couldn't leave the house as everything outside was 'contaminated' in his mind. The psychologist did sessions over the speaker phone and then when they built up my sons trust asked if they could do a home visit. These home visits have made a huge difference. The psychologist gets to see my son in his own environment. They see what he can & can't touch and the anxiety attacks happen in front of them. The psychologist is also teaching me and my husband on what to do when an anxiety attack happens, how to deal with the OCD 'monster' inside in our son. Our son is also on a very low dose medication. This was another hurdle we had to overcome as he couldn't leave the house. Our problem now is our son wants to fight the OCD by himself, without medication, so we have compromised and he is staying on the low dose. Our son is also doing Yr 11 via distance education and needs full time care. As tough and lonely as this journey is it is also very rewarding. Thank you for all your kind words, it has given me a lift.
... View more
