My 19 year old is avoiding us

[Naturelove-1976]

My daughter, 19, has had a great first year in college and I am very proud. However, she stop taking medication and going to therapy when she began college. Her OCD has morphed from younger years and she is now dealing with home contamination fears. She won’t touch us or anything we touch. I am fearful that she is going to allow it to get so bad that she will have nothing to do with us and she won’t get help .

[JoeS00]

Did you talk to her about it. Has she opened up or anything?

[Naturelove-1976 in reply to JoeS00]

Yes , she says she is working hard and I don’t understand. I have told her that I knowI don’t understand how you feel but I do know how it works. I have also told her that maybe if she went to therapy again or started taking medication again, maybe she won’t have to work so hard. She says it’s only this bad when she is home. I have told her I fear she will stop seeing us and she says she won’t let that happen but I know how OCD works and if doesn’t get help it could happen.

[JoeS00 in reply to Naturelove-1976]

I'll tell you. It's sometimes hard to get someone into therapy without free will I get it. Sitting home can make anxiety worse. Try to get her to do different activities maybe? Sometimes that can help.

[Naturelove-1976]

She is working and will hang out with us in certain occasions but only by her rules. I know that accommodating her is wrong and in many ways we are not but if we don’t at all I suspect we will not see her.

[JoeS00 in reply to Naturelove-1976]

I get it. I suffer from OCD and I wouldn't listen to my parents unless I really feel within that I have no choice except to seek therapy. I struggled for some time with contamination ocd and I have some advice that might work. If I feel compelled to wash or clean myself more than necessary I'd just take a deep breath and tell myself I'll come back to it in 2 minutes. After 2 minutes the anxious feeling will have faded and I'll just move on. It's like a brain lock I get it.Wish the best for your daughter. Hope this helps a bit

[Naturelove-1976 in reply to JoeS00]

Yes, she does wash! Thanks forYour responses!

[DeathtoOCD]

The only thing I can say is to show her love, and do your best to express your thoughts and feelings in loving way, but you must also say respect for her as well, and maybe see if you can get her to talk more about her specific feelings regrading medication and therapy, maybe you will learn more about what she think and help her that way by understanding her.