Early intervention and support vital as childhood OCD symptoms often go unnoticed, says survivor

Julia Hyman shares her journey with childhood OCD, emphasising the importance of early recognition and accessible treatment to prevent long-term disruption.

As a child, Julia Hyman describes being overwhelmed by a constant sense of dread, guilt and the need to confess. In a personal essay for the International OCD Foundation, she writes that the first signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder emerged when she was eight, long before she understood what was happening. She says she felt driven to tell her mother about every troubling thought or small mistake, fearing punishment and fixating on being a “good” person.

Her account closely matches the pattern clinicians describe in childhood OCD. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the condition involves unwanted thoughts, known as obsessions, and repetitive behaviours, or compulsions, that take up time, cause distress or interfere with daily life. Johns Hopkins Medicine notes that children may also seek repeated reassurance, perform rituals or feel compelled to wash, count or arrange objects in precise ways.

Hyman says her symptoms shifted as she grew older. After the early confessional fears, she developed contamination rituals, including prolonged bathroom routines, excessive handwashing and repeated cleaning. Medical News Today says OCD in children often begins between the ages of six and nine, and that younger children may not fully understand that their thoughts are exaggerated or unrealistic. Hyman’s description of escalating rituals, and her parents’ growing concern, reflects how the illness can intensify quietly before adults realise how much it is disrupting a child’s life.

She also recalls the strain OCD placed on schoolwork. What started as checking and overworking turned into hours spent on homework, re-reading, rewriting and searching for certainty. The CDC and HealthyChildren.org both note that OCD can interfere with school, family life and social development, especially when children spend large parts of the day caught in obsessive loops. Hyman says her family eventually found a therapist who used structured time limits and a break-based approach to help her complete work without slipping back into endless checking.

Now 24, Hyman says OCD still affects her, but early support made a difference. She argues that children need patience, not shame, and that parents should recognise intrusive thoughts as symptoms rather than truths. Her story also echoes a broader concern raised in OCD care: access to effective treatment can be patchy, even though evidence-based approaches such as cognitive behavioural therapy and exposure and response prevention are widely recommended. In a Mayo Clinic discussion of intensive paediatric OCD treatment, clinicians say specialised programmes can help children who struggle to find care close to home, underscoring the same message Hyman returns to: early recognition, informed families and proper treatment can change the course of the illness.