Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)

This maybe useful to someone some day. When I found this infomation about a year ago, I cried with relief that I had found something that described my daughter exactly!

My daughter has been like this since she could walk & talk! I have two other children who both have Aspergers, my ex had clinical depression & a drink problem. I am finally, only just getting my life in order & today I finally attended an appointment to speak with someone about my daughters problem, she confirmed that it is ODD but will not give a dignosis of it as I think they are reluctant too as it is not a very nice one lets face it! Also she said all they will do is refer her for anger managment to The CAMHS team anyway, which is what they are doing.

The following is taken from this web-site:-http://www.klis.com/chandler/pamphlet/oddcd/oddcdpamphlet.htm

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
What is it?
ODD is a psychiatric disorder that is characterized by two different sets of problems. These are aggressiveness and a tendency to purposefully bother and irritate others. It is often the reason that people seek treatment. When ODD is present with ADHD, depression, tourette's, anxiety disorders, or other neuropsychiatric disorders, it makes life with that child far more difficult. For Example, ADHD plus ODD is much worse than ADHD alone, often enough to make people seek treatment. The criteria for ODD are:

A pattern of negativistic, hostile, and defiant behavior lasting at least six months during which four or more of the following are present:
1. Often loses temper
2. often argues with adults
3. often actively defies or refuses to comply with adults' requests or rules
4. often deliberately annoys people
5. often blames others for his or her mistakes or misbehavior
6. is often touchy or easily annoyed by others
7. is often angry and resentful
8. is often spiteful and vindictive
The disturbance in behavior causes clinically significant impairment in social, academic, or occupational functioning.
How often is "often"?
All of the criteria above include the word "often". But what exactly does that mean? Recent studies have shown that these behaviors occur to a varying degree in all children. These researchers have found that the "often" is best solved by the following criteria.

Has occurred at all during the last three months-
8. is spiteful and vindictive
5. blames others for his or her mistakes or misbehavior
Occurs at least twice a week
6. is touchy or easily annoyed by others
1. loses temper
2. argues with adults
3. actively defies or refuses to comply with adults' requests or rules
Occurs at least four times per week
7. is angry and resentful
4. deliberately annoys people
What causes it?
No one knows for certain. The usual pattern is for problems to begin between ages 1-3. If you think about it, a lot of these behaviors are normal at age 2, but in this disorder they never go away. It does run in families. If a parent is alcoholic and has been in trouble with the law, their children are almost three times as likely to have ODD. That is, 18% of children will have ODD if the parents are alcoholic and the father has been in trouble with the law. (13)

How can you tell if a child has it?
ODD is diagnosed in the same way as many other psychiatric disorders in children. You need to examine the child, talk with the child, talk to the parents, and review the medical history. Sometimes other medical tests are necessary to make sure it is not something else. You always need to check children out for other psychiatric disorders, as it is common the children with ODD will have other problems, too.

It goes on to say that these children are very manipultive & are capable of convincing others i.e grandparents or teachers that they are being wronged somehow. They are very clever at finding ways to get what they want.

Hope this may help someone one day.

Pansy