How OCD Affects Studies and Grades

OCD is like an unwelcome guest with bad manners.  It moves into a child’s or adolescent’s mind and, as sometimes described, “It doesn’t want to leave.”

OCD is associated with unwanted and often overwhelming fears, doubt, anxiety and/or urges as well as a need to perform corresponding rituals. This continuous loop of obsessions and compulsions may be relentless and, while all this is going on, it’s just about impossible to act -- or be -- “normal.”  In fact, a student who has OCD often can’t “hear” what the teacher is saying because of the OCD messages coursing through his or her brain.

Students with OCD may appear to be daydreaming, distracted, noncompliant, disinterested or even lazy.  They may seem unfocused and lacking in the ability to concentrate.  In truth, they are very busy -- focusing on the nagging urges or confusing, stressful and sometimes terrifying thoughts and images caused by OCD. They may also be focused on completing rituals -- either overtly or covertly -- to relieve their distress.

For example, instead of hearing the teacher describe how to solve a particular kind of math problem, a student with OCD may only hear the inner voice of OCD.

What OCD Sounds Like -- An Example:

Uh-oh. What if I forgot my homework for the next class?  I think it’s in my book bag.  But I don’t know for sure.  I thought it was in my book bag, but it might not be.  I think I checked last night, but maybe I moved it.  If it’s not there, I’ll get in trouble and nobody will understand that I forgot it.  They might think I did that on purpose.  I did the work, but I didn’t pack it in the bag.  Wait...maybe I didn’t actually DO my homework.  What if I forgot to do it last night?  Oh, no.  Now I really WILL be in trouble.  I might not have done it.  Only bad students don’t do their homework.  I must be bad.  I can’t look in my book bag to see if my homework is there because the bag is in my locker.  Did I forget my homework?  What if I did forget it...now I’m in trouble.  I’m going to get punished.  I wish I had done my homework.  If I could only check and see if maybe it really IS in my book bag.  Ooooh.  But what if my book bag isn’t in my locker?  Did I forget my book bag?  No, I think I brought it.  But what if I didn’t?” and so on.

With thoughts and worries like these running through the student’s mind, there is little chance that the voice of the teacher will penetrate the OCD “noise.”  At best, it might sound as if you tried to watch two television channels simultaneously -- you can listen to the sound track of only one or the other.  In the case of OCD, the disorder may be so insidious (and so insistent) that the child will most likely be “tuned in” to the OCD instead of the teacher or the class work.

The Impact on Learning

OCD’s impact on learning cannot be underestimated.  Several years ago, some U.S. researchers conducted a study to examine the psychosocial functioning of children and adolescents with OCD.  In a survey of students and parents, the researchers found that the two most common problems reported by these young people and their parents were concentrating on class work and completing homework.

Interestingly, some researchers in Norway and Sweden conducted a similar study a couple of years later.  They found that parent reports of the two most frequent school-related problems children with OCD experienced were concentrating on work and completing homework.  Even more interesting is that the young people with OCD in these countries reported exactly the same problems as being the most difficult for them: concentrating on work and completing homework!  This is an issue to which school personnel must pay close attention.

Even very bright and motivated students can struggle with OCD.  Depending on the severity of the symptoms, some students will find it difficult to learn and, for some, it’s almost impossible to concentrate on and complete school-related work.  Following are some of the learning difficulties students with OCD may experience:

• They often are unable to listen effectively and concentrate on what the teacher is saying.
• They may not be able to read without their minds being drawn away from the words and into a world of relentless worries.  They may also be unable to read because of the need to perform rituals (e.g., count every 5th word in each sentence or each paragraph).
• They may not be able to pay attention to visuals very well because of lack of focus and concentration on anything other than the mental stream of worries, urges or compulsions.
• They may not understand the key points that the teacher stresses; they are not able to absorb the meaning and insights because they are distracted by the OCD.
• They may be embarrassed -- or in some cases, reprimanded by the teacher -- if they don’t have an answer when called upon due to the OCD distractions.
• They may do poorly on quizzes or exams because they have not been able to prepare properly -- the OCD kept them from studying effectively both at home and in school.  Or OCD may interfere with their ability to concentrate on and complete tests/exams.
• They may experience high levels of anxiety that build until some kind of release is found which may involve a ritual or another behavior -- including an outburst -- that can be a disruption to the class.  As the anxiety is building, the student is focusing only on that feeling, not on learning.
• Students with OCD may be extremely tired because of the strain and effort of trying to fight OCD, which can sap one's energy. A lack of sleep may also be caused by staying up late studying.  Students with OCD often take longer than usual to study or do homework assignments because they are distracted by the OCD. In addition, recent research suggests that a large percentage of young people with OCD experience one or more sleep-related difficulties.
• Some students with OCD are adept at devising “work-arounds” to try to counter OCD obsessions.  They will avoid people, places and things that might “trigger” their symptoms.  Understandably, avoiding certain tasks related to reading (e.g., the student avoids reading any material that is written or highlighted in red because of an association with blood), writing (the student cannot write cursive letters that contain loops, such as an uppercase "J," because of a fear that a loved one may get "trapped" in the loop), or math (e.g., the student cannot do problems that contain a "6," because 6 is associated with evil) can have serious negative effects on learning.

It may not be long before the student who has OCD falls behind in schoolwork, produces less work and experiences a drop in grades.  And it may be nearly impossible to catch up unless he or she is able to learn to manage the OCD symptoms.  This is why it’s critical that educators take a proactive approach to becoming aware of what OCD is, and when potential signs of OCD are recognized, to alert parents to the difficulties that are being observed at school.

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