The Impact of Oppositional Defiant Disorder

The impact of Oppositional Defiant Disorder

What is Oppositional Defiant Disorder?

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is when a child or teen has frequent and persistent patterns of anger, irritability, arguing, defiance or vindictiveness toward you and other authority figures (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2015).

Being a parent of a child with ODD can be very challenging. There are plenty of resources that you could reach out to for help. Some of them for example would be doctors, counselors, and also child development experts could provide help.

What to look for?

Children with ODD are very quick to lose their tempers, often disobedient at home or school, apt to ignore or rebel against rules, quick to blame others for mistakes or misbehaviors, and also prone to annoy others and be easily ignores (Oppositional Defiant Disorder). Within certain limits every one of these types of behaviors are very typical in children. The children with ODD have problems containing these impulses. They will also act out on a regular basis that it would compromise their ability to get along with others.

Diagnosis

To be able to distinguish symptoms of ODD from normal childhood, professionals depend on a detailed story of the history of behaviors of the child in a variety of situations. For children under the age of 5, the behaviors would occur on a regular basis for at least 6 months. For those children who are of the age of 5 and older they would occur once a week for 6 months. Since children with ODD may show symptoms in certain settings, the symptoms may not be evidence in the clinician’s office.

Treatment

Oppositional Defiant Disorder is very treatable. It is usually treated with behavioral therapy or a combination of behavioral intervention and medicine (Oppositional Defiant Disorder).

A couple examples of treatment would be:

·        Psychotherapeutic

o In this type of therapy the parent and child work together through a set of exercises while a therapist coaches parents through an ear bud. This way parents understand when to increase positive interactions with the child and to set consistent consequences for inappropriate behavior. Also this type of treatment allows for a more supportive relationship with their parents.

·        Pharmacological

o There is no specific type of medicine related to ODD. However, many children with ODD have co-occurring conditions such as ADHD they may be on medications for those other disorders.

All in all being a parent of a child who has ODD can be very challenging. To be able to help maintain your child’s outburst you have to understand the signs and symptoms.

References

Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder. (2013, July). In American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Retrieved May 4, 2015, from http://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/Facts_for_Families_Pages/Children_With_Oppositional_Defiant_Disorder_72.aspx

Mayo CLinic Staff. (2015, February 6). Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). In ''Mayo CLinic''. Retrieved May 4, 2015, from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/oppositional-defiant-disorder/basics/definition/con-20024559

Oppositional Defiant Disorder. (n.d.). In Child Mind Institute. Retrieved from                                    http://www.childmind.org/en/health/disorder-guide/oppositional-defiant-disorder