Now it’s OCD Awareness Week, a chance to dispel myths and to share hope for an illness that’s still sometimes overshadowed by anxiety and depression, or caricatured (we’re not all preoccupied with germs or hand-washing).

Another reason for hope: InStride Health, launched by local clinicians Dr. Mona Potter and Dr. Kathryn Boger, the co-founders of the McLean Anxiety Mastery Programme. Next, they wanted to create more opportunities for the thousands of kids who need OCD care but who couldn’t afford private pay or who were languishing on wait lists. Their pediatric startup provides insurance-backed, virtual care for kids in Massachusetts and beyond.

Kids are paired with a therapist, exposure coach, and a psychiatrist, and most kids can be seen within a couple of weeks – a relief when wait lists for therapists can stretch for months. If your kid is afraid to go to school, terrified of germs, or trapped in a world constrained by fear, it can feel like eternity. trust me; I remember.

“A child’s brain is a sponge. What OCD does, what anxiety does, is it robs a child of the chance to really experience the world on their own terms. We want to help them change their relationship with the OCD. We’re not going to make it go away; we’re going to help the child, parents, school, everybody, respond to these emotions in a different way that’s more productive,” Potter says.My experience mirrors the typical trajectory. About 1 in 5 cases begins by age 10, with upticks around puberty and young adulthood. OCD isn’t caused by parenting, potter says. It reflects a sensitive brain alarm system,partly genetic,shaped by environmental and developmental changes.

“Genetics contributes 40 to 50 percent of the risk of OCD; the genetic contribution appears to be higher in childhood-onset than in adult-onset disease,” she says.

And while awareness has grown, treatment delays are still common: Many kids still go years before an accurate diagnosis.

“With early recognition and evidence-based care,OCD is highly treatable,” Potter says. In honor of all those kids who used to struggle in sile

Understanding and Supporting Children with OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) isn’t just being neat or liking things in a certain order. It’s a mental health condition that causes unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images, or urges (obsessions) that lead to repetitive behaviors or mental acts (compulsions).

“Kids with OCD are really suffering,” says Dr. Sarah Potter, a clinical psychologist specializing in anxiety and OCD at the Child Mind Institute. “They’re not choosing to do these things. They feel driven to do them, and it’s causing them a lot of distress.”

OCD affects about 1-2% of children and adolescents,and it can manifest in different ways. Common obsessions include fear of germs or contamination, unwanted aggressive thoughts, and a need for symmetry or exactness. Compulsions might involve excessive handwashing, checking things repeatedly, or arranging objects in a specific way.

What parents can do: For support, Potter recommends resources including the International OCD Foundation and Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

You can also try to separate your child from the OCD by externalizing it: “This is OCD talking, not you.” Some kids find it helpful to give it a name.

“We’ve had kids give it the funniest names. They’ll call it Broccoli. My favorite was Miggy, after amygdala, our limbic fear system,” Potter says. “The idea is externalizing the OCD. OCD is trying to tell you what to do and trying to say that, if you don’t do this, then your day is going to be bad or a bad outcome is going to happen. But this is OCD: You don’t always need to listen to OCD.”

Notice, name, and respond deliberately. “When OCD tries to run the show, pause before problem-solving or directing. Lead with empathy: notice and name what your child is feeling, reflect it with your words and body language, and then gently pivot to action by coaching one tiny step toward what they’re avoiding,” she says.

Most of all, don’t accommodate the OCD. This might seem counterintuitive: You don’t want your kid to be upset; neither do their teachers or friends. But accommodation can backfire in the long run.

“Parents often buffer distress by answering reassurance questions, assisting in avoidance behaviors, or creating work-arounds. It helps in the moment but grows OCD over time because it takes away the opportunity for kids to learn that, yes, they can really handle a challenging situation,” Potter says.

“We are ‘nice’ by trying to reduce distress in the moment, but the ‘kind’ thing to do is to show kids we believe in them and know they can handle it. There’s a concept in schools [that] moved from helicopter parenting to lawnmower parenting, where the urge is to clear the path for our kids. But that deprives them of the chance to build muscles and see that they can handle and get through the muck.”

As psychologists Alex Jordan and Ben Levett