Why do children have obsessive thoughts and behaviors?

  Obsessive-compulsive thinking refers to the repeated and continuous occurrence of a thought, which can include a sentence, a number, an idea, an imaginary thing, a memory, an impulsive idea, an emotional experience and so on. For example, if you suspect that you have not done a good job on a problem, you repeatedly think about the process of doing the problem or check it several times, and you are still not completely at ease; you are excessively afraid of getting dirty; you suspect that you have some kind of disease and cannot dispel the thought despite various hospital tests.  Compulsive action or compulsive behavior refers to repeated actions or actions that must be made according to certain rules or procedures, such as forcing to count, washing hands repeatedly, doing a set of sequential actions repeatedly, and starting over if the sequence is interrupted or if you think it is not done. These ideas and actions are not voluntary, but are compulsive in nature, knowing that there is no point, is superfluous, want to get rid of but can not get rid of, wasting time, affecting the child’s life and learning, the child also feel pain, emotional depression.  This phenomenon is actually a mental illness, rarely seen in young children, compared to more in older children, the problem often appears in introverted personality, serious and rigid, meticulous, demanding perfection of themselves; if the parents are this character will also affect the child, especially in modern society, children’s mental burden is heavy, from parents and school requirements for children The chances of having this psychological disorder are also increased. However, sometimes the cause is difficult to determine and may be related to a particular experience.  In the course of normal development, children may also experience phenomena that look like compulsions, such as walking and counting the attic, repeatedly folding handkerchiefs and making sure they are folded neatly, doing a special meaningful action, and being comfortable when they are done, otherwise they are in a bad mood. The difference with pathological compulsion is that they do not feel distressed about it, but rather they feel interesting and willing to do it, which will disappear naturally after a period of time and does not affect their lives and studies, which is not considered pathological.  When the compulsive thinking and behavior has an impact on the child, you should seek the help of a psychiatrist in a timely manner, the earlier the treatment, the better, otherwise it will be delayed for many years and difficult to cure. At the same time, compulsive symptoms of severe mental disorders need to be excluded.