Question regarding compulsions

My daughter is 16 and I am worried about her. I think I need to bring her to see a doctor, but am trying to do some research before I do. About 2 years ago she started showing very slight signs of having to touch things twice (once with each hand), I didn't worry about it at first because I think that everyone has a little bit of tendency to do that at some point in their life. She's a serious athlete and I started noticing that while whe was playing her sport, she would touch the bat or the ball to her lips and I thought it was for good luck. Now it is something that she does and I don't think that she even knows she is doing it and it is no longer just while she is on the field. She'll walk by a counter at a restaurant and bend down to touch her mouth to the counter, coming out of a public bathroom, she does it to the paper towel dispenser, etc... almost everything that she picks up with her hands - and I mean just about everything from a cell phone to a paper bag - she runs across her lips. I scold her for doing it and she has no idea that she just did it. When stepping through a doorway that has a raised piece of moulding, she has to rest the arch of both her feet on the moulding before she will pass through the door, I've even noticed her doing it on cracks in the sidewalk and driveway. Would this be considered a form of OCD or could she just have a bad habit that she needs to break???

sounds like OCD to me. i had a friend who did something similiar and got therapy for it......good luck, pat

Sounds like OCD. Also DON'T yell at her for doing it. Yelling at her can just cause more emotional problems.

I would suggest maybe seeing a doctor, counselor, or therapist who has experience in dealing with OCD patients and discuss your concerns with them (without your daughter present) and see what they suggest.

Just please don't yell or repremand your daughter for the compulsive actions. I'm just learning how much I was affected by my 1st grade teacher and parents repremanding me for being unflexible. The unflexibilty was caused by OCD and fears concerning it but as a first grader I didn't know how to express the feelings I was experiencing or explain them so the teacher attributed them to different things.

It's really hard for someone to be told to change something but not told how they can change it.

I really think you should talk to a professional before you do anything else about this, someone who can better teach you how to approach these issues so you don't take an action that can do more bad than good.

I hope everything works out okay for you and your daughter.

I would just take her to her GP and get a full physical and have him advise you; "kissing" can be a early symptom/tic of Tourette's syndrome and maybe other things?

http://www.tourettes-disorder.com/symptoms/tics.html