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Teen In Alleged Oregon Bomb Plot Could Have Rare Mental Condition

Chris Lehman
/
Northwest News Network

The Oregon teenager accused of plotting an attack on his high school has obsessive-compulsive disorder brought on in a rare way: a strep infection. That's according to his mother.

PANDAS, has nothing to do with the bear. It's a condition that's triggered by strep infections in children. Researchers aren't sure why the infections could cause the extreme obsessive-compulsive behaviors. The symptoms can last for weeks, then disappear and come back months later without warning. The medical community isn't entirely in agreement over whether PANDAS is a distinct condition.

Jenne Henderson is a child psychologist in Portland. She says in her experience, it's a legitimate diagnosis. "They have very extreme behaviors. And almost overnight. So it's almost the behavior is so much more intense than a typical OCD case than I might see."

It's not clear yet whether Grant Acord's medical history will play a role in his defense. The seventeen-year-old faces charges of aggravated attempted murder, and manufacture and possession of destructive devices. Police say they found a half-dozen homemade bombs at his Albany house.

Copyright 2013 Northwest News Network

Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.

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