Oppositional Defiant Disorder: the "New" Kids' Behavioral Problem
When I first read about this "disease" I couldn't believe my eyes. Oppositional? Defiant? That describes just about every child from 2 years old to a teenager.
The symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder? Temper tantrums, arguing with adults, refusal to comply with adult requests and rules, blaming others for his/her mistakes, anger, mean and hateful talking when upset... Sound like anyone you know?
Supposedly, children afflicted with this mental disorder are more defiant and oppositional than most other kids. I want to know who went around and measured just how oppositional and defiant a "normal" child is. I can just picture it.
Interviewer: Hi. Are you defiant and oppositional?
Kid: No!
Do a search on "odd" and what do you get? All of the odd happenings in the world? Odd people in the world? Nope, you get "oppositional defiant disorder". Apparently, about 10% of children have oppositional defiant disorder at least once in their lives. Really? Ask parents and I imagine that figure would be higher.
In all seriousness, oppositional defiant disorder can be a serious behavioral problem. The symptoms include oppositional behaviors that last at least six months, spiteful or vindictive behavior, and behaviors that are disruptive to the family or school environments. The child may be having academic problems, may have a hard time making or keeping friends, and may be deliberately annoying others.
Oppositional defiant disorder often occurs at the same time as depression or ADHD. To really know if a child has ODD, a physician needs to evaluate your child. Left untreated, oppositional defiant disorder can escalate into substance abuse, aggression toward people and animals, theft, or destruction of property.
Teachers need to know that oppositional defiant disorder can be triggered by abuse, lack of supervision, family instability (such as divorce or moving), financial stress within the family, or exposure to violence in the home. Teachers who suspect a child has ODD should consult with the child's parents and with the school counselor.
Treatment for oppositional defiant disorder is first to ask for the advice of your primary physician, who will probably recommend that you seek a child psychologist's or behavioral expert's opinion. The sooner your child gets treatment for oppositional defiant disorder, the better and quicker you can expect the outcome to be. Getting treatment early will help raise your child' self-esteem and contribute to the closeness between you and your child.
Treatment for ODD will not only help your child, it will help you. You can talk to the child psychologist about the best ways to handle the outbursts of this behavior. Some ways of dealing with oppositional defiant disorder at home include timeouts, praising your child's good behaviors, giving your child some choices, and adhering to a schedule for meals and activities at home. Consistent discipline is important as well.
Oppositional defiant disorder is highly treatable. The key to a successful outcome is to seek advice and get your child into treatment as early as possible.
Published by Sandra Essary
Sandra is a featured travel contributor for Associated Content at Yahoo!. She has traveled extensively in the US, Europe, and the Caribbean. She has also camped for over 35 years throughout the US. Besi... View profile
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27 Comments
Post a Comment"You know what the problem is? Liberal parents who don't believe that their children should ever suffer the consequences of misconduct -- in other words, a spanking. Instead, they prefer to let someone else, such as pschologists, social workers, and other people with worthless degrees is pseudo sciences, dealwith their kids (and grow rich in the process). This disorder is a joke!"
Perhaps if you know so much more than me you should come over and we'll discuss my failures as a parent, and you can lead me in the right direction then. Thank you in advance for all your gracious help.
You know what the problem is? Liberal parents who don't believe that their children should ever suffer the consequences of misconduct -- in other words, a spanking. Instead, they prefer to let someone else, such as pschologists, social workers, and other people with worthless degrees is pseudo sciences, dealwith their kids (and grow rich in the process). This disorder is a joke!
The social worker had some great points. Treating my sons depression helped his ODD symptoms and he was bale to lead a productive life for the first time. The problem is getting them to stay on the meds (aka: 'defiant')
This disorder is no joke. I have a son that has ODD. With these kids consequences have no effect. My son started showing symptoms when he was around 3rd grade. He refused to do his homework, or he would 'forget' and he didn't seem to care if he got bad grades. This continued through grade school and middle school. I made multiple visits and even volunteered in his classroom to see what he was talking about because he would blame the teachers or the other kids. In high school, it got much worse and he would run away from home if we imposed consequences for his innappropriate actions. When he was 16 he would stay away for days and weeks, we didn't know where he was. When he was just shy of 18 he talked about suicide and I had to have him Baker Acted. He refused for a while to take meds but when he finally did he did well and was able to lead a productive life.
I wish this story had a happy ending- he is 'homeless', couch surfing, without a job and when he comes home to visit he has to l
sorry it cut me off. Anyways, my husband and I are trying to raise our boys to be decent, respected, christian gentlemen. We take pride in knowing how important our job is. We have exhausted all treatments it seems and medication will always be refused until it is a forced matter... and even then there will be a fight. My big point is .. don't be so judgemental on situations you may not have experienced. Empathy is the key to alot more then you know. Knowing that you can learn something new without being a sheep in the herd is a great thing.
I have to tell you, that when I first heard my stepson got diagnosed with ODD I was angry and found it hard not scream out "This is ridiculous!!" I too am a firm believer that lots of kids are too quickly 'diagnosed'. My uncle for one, was diagnosed when he was little and was put on heavy medication given to psychotics. But now it has been almost five years (two kids later) dealing with a child that has been diagnosed with ODD. It has gotten to the point I really worry if there is a way to get through to him. Ever since pre-k he has had such major problems that he has been pulled out every year, and this year doesn't look any different and he is in his second first grade. He throws chairs, yells and literally drains everyone of their energy. He has such a sweet and giving side to him and I love him dearly but his outburst are always unpredictable and I sometimes fear for his younger siblings. His father and I love our children. They are our world. We are trying to raise them to be dece
My grandmother called this "crabbiness" or "getting up on the wrong side of the bed". Nice to know there's really a proper clinical name for what I had as a kid. Thankfully, I've outgrown it. I think that happened when I got a place of my own. Hmmm.... :) Great article. Your sense of humor is great!
How well do they rule out other causes. Maybe a child is constantly arguing with his parents because they are abusive? The whole slew of symptoms seems more likely to happen if there's a dysfunctional home life(not necessarily abuse but dysfunctional family relations), not saying that would always cause them but shouldn't that factor be ruled out before making a diagnosis? But then that would be difficult. What parent is going to admit to having a dysfunctional family?
Great ideas..and wounderful article.thanks Sandra Essary
Very interesting topic. Great job!