ODD rarely stands alone, and is more a description than a firm diagnosis. ODD is seen in all c hildhood disorders. If it is extreme, it could be early onset bipolar disorder, which has a huge ODD component. A few sites for you:
www.conductdisorders.com (lots of ODD into there)
Our psychologist isn't really being a great help. I am considering finding a new one. The only problem there is that since my child is insured through our state, we have to go through the state. There aren't very many child psychologists around here. I guess that's why I am here trying to find some info for myself. Thanks.
How does the ODD present itself? What behaviors are you seeing?
ODD rarely travels alone, but generally when you treat the underlying disorder, the oppositional behaviors improve.
Well, I had never heard of ODD until my son went through the testing for ADHD and that is when I was told he has ADHD, ODD, mild anxiety, and depresion. Also, maybe a learning disability, which I never looked into because he has never had a problem with learning. I am told he has a very high IQ score. Anyway, he doesn't listen to a word you tell him. He is going to do what he wants to do and that's the way it is. If you try to disipline him it's like he becomes a three year old, crying and carrying on. Screaming also. It causes more stress with us than anything. I do blame myself and grandparents partly because he has never really had much disispline in his life. He was an only child for five years and just three years ago, a sister came into his life. But, he does the totaly oposite of what his father or I tell him to do. Or, if you tell him no, he doesn't listen to that answer. I understand that consistency has to be a part of overcoming this. It's very hard. I'm thinking of trying the marble program I read about on this website. It may work. No one wants to seem to address this problem. When I asked his psychologist about it, she acted like she didn't know what I was talking about and had to go through his file to find the results of his psycho evaluation and said oh yes, it does says that he has ODD, but there isn't any medication that can help that and she went on. So, I'm not sure what to do about it.Odd isn't a lack of discipline either. A boy in our school was told he has this and ended up he has asd found out later. Gm told me this who he lives with.Is he being treated for anxiety and depression, with meds and/or therapy? Untreated anxiety and depression can cause LOTS of oppositional behavior.
I keep hearing about this fish oil. What is it and what does it do? Thank youIf you Google up Dr. Chandler's website about ODD/CD (he's like the Grand Ole Wizard of ODD) he states clearly "It doesn't stand alone." ODD is not a very useful diagnosis, imo. It usually means something else, and is not responsive to the therapy. If it is, hey, then you have ODD, whatever that is. Often it turns out, much like ADHD, to be something bigger than just defiant behavior (willfully), which is why it's best to see a Child Psychiatrist. They are far less apt, than psycologists, to diagnose ODD. Good luck :)My son has ADHD and went through a defiant period. But that defiance completely disappeared when I started him on high-EPA fish oil and homeopathy. I also used the marble system with success.
I do not mean to diagnose anyone but I do work in the mental health field and hear psychiatrists testifying in court about treating adolescents with ODD. I have heard that Abilify or Risperdal are commonly prescribed for ODD. The Risperdal can cause a weight gain in a short amount of time. Both meds are classified as anti-psychotics but are used for ODD...My 16 year old son has been quite ODD for the past year or so and was having major conflicts with my husband. I was thinking about putting him on meds and asked the dr. what meds would be appropriate and he mentioned the 2 above. Hope this info helps.
My hubby is anti meds!RNI find few Dr.'s who care most want to sat try this with no testing!Our son will throw himself into walls or head butt. Our son is to complex he has to much going on with him. DR.'s not really listening either even with a history right in their face. The np wants tests We can't afford. If se doesn't come thru we are stuck with a wrong DX. for life. In my opinion our son could have adhd,asd,bp,odd,epilepsy. All 5 of these he has symptoms of.
Yes, I also have gotten more help and support here than what I have found elsewhere. It really helps to draw from the experiences of other parents. I wanted to mention that my son has been taking respirdal for a couple of years. It does seem to help a little bit-it takes the edge off of the anger. The basic personality traits that lead to his having problems are still there, of course. It has made him more bearable to be around, and he at least hasn't assaulted anyone when taking it.
My son does argue a great deal, and hates to accept being told "no." His therapist said that he thinks he actually loves doing this. I absolutely hate to argue, he would often succeed in getting me angry by persisting with the arguments. One of the most helpful tips that the therapist has given us is to avoid arguing with him if at all possible, so that he doesn't get what he wants. I now respond to him with "No, we've already discussed this," or "Sorry you feel that way." Sometimes, I walk out of the room, or even out of the house if I find myself getting angry. I've even left to run some errands when he has been exceptionally argumentative, and usually he has forgotten about it by the time I've returned. My husband and I have each learned to observe the other when dealing with him. If one of us sees the other unwittingly getting pulled into an argument, we will distract the other and change the subject. Our son hates this, but it is effective. It has taken a period of 2-3 years of doing this, but with us responding in this manner, I think that some of the arguing behavior has finally decreased somewhat. It has also been very important (but extremely difficult) for us to try to stay calm when dealing with him. If we lose our temper and raise our voices, it somehow makes him feel like he has won. He enjoys this, and he will escallate.
You mentioned about one of the professionals asking if your son had ever locked you out of the house. My son has never actually locked me out of the house, but he did refuse to let me back in once when he was about 8 years old. I had taken the garbage out, and hadn't realized that the door was locked. I pounded on the door and yelled. Finally after about 10 minutes, his younger brother came to the door and opened it. He said that his older brother was hiding-he thought I was a burgular!At any rate, since that time, I never go outside without my keys, as I never know for sure what he is going to do.
I wish you luck with your son, and I hope that you find him the help that he needs. I know that this search can be very frusterating for concerned parents.
I don't really have a lot of advice to ad, except if you are dissatisfied with the psychologist, I would definitely do everything in my power to find a different one. I have a 17 year old son who has Cyclothymic disorder (mild bipolar disorder) and ODD. When he was younger, he had many of the same symptoms as your son, and he still has several of them. We took him to a local psychologist who continually told us (and him) that he did not have a problem, it was us who had the problem. Our son can be quite charming and manipulative when he wants to be, and he obviously had this man fooled. We would periodically take him to this man for a series of several sessions, only to be told that nothing was wrong. This man even gave him and Adult MMPI when he was only 13 years old! Of course, it again indicated that there was nothing wrong. We accepted this incompetence because of a shortage of competent professionals in our area at that time. Thank heavens, another psychologist joined the medical group at our doctor's office when our son was 14, and our doctor referred us to him. He immediately administered an Adolescent MMPI, and WOW! It revealed a number of problems that the adult test never touched on. He immediately reassured us that his problems were not a result of defective parenting or discipline, but were due to a biochemical imbalance. He has, however, offered suggestions over time that help us to deal with his problematic behaviors more effectively.
Our son has not been receptive at all to therapy, and has no insight. If someone is not telling him exactely what he wants to hear, they are immediately wrong. I think that part of the problem may have been that we inadvertenly waited until adolescence for therapy to actually take place. We have had numerous problems with him here at home, and he has also had many problems in the school and community due to his violent and and careless attitude. I have wondered many times if we could have avoided at least some of these incidents if we had persevered in finding a competent professional to work with him when he was younger!
That is one of my concerns. I'm worried that if this is not treated now and treated the right way that the older he gets his aggresivness will only get worse and get him into trouble. As much as we teach him right from wrong, if there is a chemical imbalance, then it's hard to tell what could happen. I was once asked if he had ever locked us out of the house. This was asked by a professinal. Of course he hadn't. My answer was No, but if this is not treated it may get to that. No one seemed to care of my answer. I as a parent am going to have to do something on my own to try and fix this because no one else is and I have to stick up for my child. I've trying to find as much info on the net as I can. That is how I ended up here and I have gotten some much useful advice. Things that no professional has ever suggested to me. Thank you very much.