Is Your Brain Playing Tricks? A Story About OCD
Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet, eating her curds and whey. Along came a spider and sat down beside her and frightened Miss Muffet away.
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Miss Muffet was a sweet little girl who loved eating curds and whey, but she didn’t like spiders. She thought they were icky and scary. One day while eating her curds and whey a spider crawled onto her hand. “Ewww!” she cried, running away as fast as she could. But no matter how fast she ran, or how far she went, she kept thinking about the spider. Her mom tried everything to help her feel better but nothing worked. So, her mom took her to see a doctor who told them about a special trick the brain can play that makes people afraid of things that aren’t actually scary, like bugs, dirt, germs or even certain numbers and colors! The doctor told Miss Muffet it’s okay to be afraid sometimes. In fact, it’s good to be afraid of things that are dangerous, like a hot stove or a busy road. But when our brain plays tricks on us, we can get scared of things that are not dangerous at all. The doctor called it OCD, which stands for obsessive-compulsive disorder. He explained that OCD is kind of like having a bully in your brain that tells you lies. The bully might say, If you touch that doorknob, you'll get sick! or If you don't wash your hands 10 times, something bad will happen! Miss Muffet learned that even though the bully in her brain was telling her that spiders were scary, she didn't have to listen. She could choose to be brave and face her fears. The doctor taught her some special tricks to help her do this. One trick was called exposure therapy. This meant that Miss Muffet would start by looking at pictures of spiders, then maybe watching videos of spiders, and finally, if she felt ready, she could even try holding a real spider! It wasn't easy at first, but Miss Muffet was determined. With each step, she felt a little bit braver. She learned that spiders weren't so scary after all. They were actually quite fascinating! She discovered that they had eight legs and eight eyes, and that they spun beautiful webs to catch their food. Miss Muffet even started to think that spiders were kind of cute! Miss Muffet still has OCD, but now she knows how to deal with it. She knows that the bully in her brain might try to trick her again, but she also knows that she is stronger than the bully. She has learned to face her fears and to choose bravery over worry. And guess what? Miss Muffet even made a new friend...a little spider named Spindley!
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A Fly Flew By: Understanding OCD
There once was a man from Nantucket, who kept all his cash in a bucket. His daughter named Nan, ran away with a man, and as for the bucket, Nantucket.
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Once upon a time, in a cozy little house with a red door, lived a boy named Billy. Billy loved playing with his toys, especially his train set. He would spend hours building tracks and sending his trains on exciting journeys. But sometimes, Billy's brain would play tricks on him. It would whisper worries in his ear, like What if the train falls off the track? or What if something bad happens? These worries felt so real to Billy that he started doing things to try and stop them from happening. He would check the train tracks over and over again, making sure they were perfectly aligned. He would count the train cars in a special order, believing that if he didn't, something terrible might occur. These thoughts and actions made Billy feel anxious and trapped, like a fly buzzing around in a closed jar. One day, Billy's mom noticed that he wasn't playing with his trains as much as he used to. He seemed worried and was spending a lot of time checking and counting things. She sat down with Billy and asked him what was wrong. At first, Billy was hesitant to share his worries, but with his mom's gentle encouragement, he opened up about the thoughts that were bothering him. Billy's mom listened patiently and then explained that his brain was playing a trick on him. She told him about a special condition called OCD, which stands for obsessive-compulsive disorder. She said that OCD is like having a little worry gremlin living in your brain. This gremlin likes to whisper scary thoughts and make you feel like you need to do certain things to keep bad things from happening. Billy learned that even though the worry gremlin was telling him lies, he didn't have to listen. He could choose to be brave and face his fears. Billy's mom took him to see a special doctor who taught him some tricks to help him deal with the worry gremlin. One trick was to imagine the worry thoughts as clouds floating by in the sky. He could watch them come and go without having to pay attention to them. Another trick was to practice saying Stop! to the worry gremlin whenever it started whispering its silly thoughts. It took some time and practice, but Billy started to feel better. He learned that he was stronger than the worry gremlin and that he could control his thoughts instead of letting them control him. He started playing with his trains again, and even though the worry gremlin sometimes tried to whisper in his ear, Billy knew how to send it packing!
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