Table 4.
Case Descriptions of Youth with OCD with and without PTSD and with Trauma
| Age (y) & Gender | Traumatic Event | Obsessional Symptoms |
|---|---|---|
| Full Syndromal PTSD* | ||
| 16yo female | Alone with sister at home when robbers broke in, locked self in room, screamed and called 911 | Thoughts of something bad happening, someone would die or get shot, fear of death, dying, repetitive religious thoughts |
| 15yo male | Attempted sexual assault by older kid. | Contamination, wouldn’t leave house, showers compulsively, and washes hands |
| 12yo male | Anaphylactic reaction, ate a watermelon and felt itchy, rushed to hospital, could not breathe | Eats very limited range of food, seeks excessive reassurance regarding ingredients, wont eat out, wears specific clothes, magical and showering rituals |
| 13yo female | School bus accident, had to be driven to school for the remainder of the year | Keep changing clothes because didn’t feel “right”, erases and re- writes letters, has to re-read words, checks food to make sure it is fresh, contamination concerns |
| 17yo male | Parents hit him a lot through childhood. In school beaten by classmates, afraid to go to school | Repetitive words, numbers and phrases that can’t get out of head, checks alarm before bed, thinks about appearance/hair, has to check $ in pocket |
| Subthreshold PTSD** | ||
| 9yo male | Drunk driver drove into them, car accident and police chase | Worried was going to die, contamination concerns |
| 13yo female | Man followed her in a van while walking home with a friend, they ran home, and called police but man was never found. Freaks out when she sees trucks/vans | Something bad will happen such as being kidnapped, germs & contamination concerns, obsesses over what she is wearing |
| 15yo female | Seeing Dad taken to hospital via ambulance for diabetes, insulin shock | Thinks it will happen again, bad dreams, counts to four over and over, repeating phrases, gets stuck checking |
| 9yo male | Stepped into bees’ nest, stung many times | Thinks about things being in the right order, worries where his special things are, legos have to be in the same order/direction, searches pockets in certain order for objects, has to touch things a certain way |
| 6yo male | Sister died suddenly after virus attacked her heart. Was asleep and never saw her again | Intrusive thoughts of something terrible happening to his mom, bad dreams |
| 15yo male | Witnessed adult beating his brother, stood by and after questioned himself why he could not help him | Blood contamination concerns, washing, fear of hurting bugs, sexual thoughts, dirty hands, prays |
| “Trauma” endorsed without meeting diagnosis for either Full or Subthreshold PTSD | ||
| 15yo female | Sister nearly hit by car, pushed sister out of way just in time | Germ obsessions, afraid of people getting hurt, hair must be perfect, carries a mirror checking and counting by 3’s |
| 17yo female | Badly hurt in gymnastics accident with painful compound fracture of elbow | Afraid something bad will happen to herself or her family and it will be her fault, making sure things are “OK”, washing hands, checking light switches, touching things with her elbow |
| 16yo male | Sexually assaulted at age 8 | Afraid to go to sleep, fear of being blown up, wants everyone to be safe, afraid to become a “bad” person, repeats things in 2”s, |
| 16yo male | Witnessed uncle and father in a knife fight | Has to walk back and forth over a certain area to keep others safe, counts, germ obsessions, bad luck is going to happen, afraid of saying the wrong things |
| 13yo male | While climbing on rocks, foot slipped and almost fell 30 feet onto jagged rocks, has nightmares and flashbacks | Obsessions that he was going to die of injury or of AIDS infection |
| 8yo female | Head on car accident, saw it coming, hospitalized for 3 days in ICU, severe injury | Afraid of some movie characters including ET, intrusive visual images |
| 16yo male | Hazing, was beat up daily at school | Intrusive graphic images of death scenes, thought might die or others around him might die, wasn’t good enough, washed hands |
| 15yo male | Witnessed domestic violence, Dad hitting Mom | Intrusive imagines of people getting their limbs cut off, blood, thoughts of sex/incest/homosexuality, has to verbalize or else will obsess about it, washes hands |
Not all original cases included. Examples elucidate thematic links between PTSD, trauma & OCD symptoms.
*
N=5 of 6 cases
**
N=6 of 17 cases
***
N=8 of 28 cases