Joanna Fortune: My quiet teenager keeps washing her hands repeatedly

Child psychotherapist Dr Joanna Fortune

Joanna Fortune: "Someone with OCD will often feel compelled to engage in the compulsive behaviour as a response to or an attempt to manage the obsession."

My 17-year-old daughter seems to have developed symptoms of OCD. Whenever she uses the bathroom, she has to wash her hands over and over, sometimes to the point where the skin is raw. I’ve repeatedly told her there is no need to wash her hands like this, but she insists on doing it. She has always been a quiet girl and finds it difficult to be in groups. What can I do to help her?

It can be easy to conflate OCD with a more generalised anxiety, which often involves someone using repetitive behaviours to manage overwhelming feelings of anxiety.