Why is My Child’s OCD So Much Worse at Home?!

On this episode

About this episode

Maybe they can go to school, visit friends, or function fairly well outside the house, but the second they get home, OCD seems to take over. That can leave parents wondering why the rules, avoidance, contamination fears, or compulsions seem so much stronger in one environment than another. In this episode, I explain some of the reasons OCD can look different at home, including why home may become a “safer” place for compulsions, how contamination chains can build up over time, and why certain family members or spaces can become incorporated into OCD’s rules. I also talk about what can happen when families start believing that changing locations will solve the problem—and why OCD often finds…