Controlling temper | ADHD Information

My son was diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder this summer. He has a problem with irritability and anger. He never gets physical, but can get really frustrated and angry. He participated in a drug study for ADHD kids with ODD. He took Tenex(an anti hypertensive) and it did good things for him. He is finished with the study but I asked his pediatrician to keep him on it, along with his Adderall. He is much less irritable and more affectionate and is doing really well in school this year. Maybe this medication would help other ADHD kids with anger and irritability issues. Plus, it improves appetite and sleep.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I will be keeping a close eye how things are going at school, and asked the teacher and support staff to keep the dialogue open. They did mention they may bring in a behaviouralist to help him with social skills.    They also noted they hadn't contacted me this year as things were significantly improved over last year even though there are issues still to be dealt with.

As a side note, he has been taking DHA everyone morning for a year, but I haven't really noticed much difference.

Today was a much better day!

 

 

 

A possibility: Play therapy is sometimes successfully with this age child in dealing with the anger of frustration. No guarantees but it often works depending on the skill of the practitioner.

Trained play therapists can be found on www.a4pt.org/directory.cfm

This is not an unusual problem with adhd kids. If you would, they cannot resist the impulse to show anger. I do not know of any studies showing them to be more angry than other kids (assuming no major comorbids) but they very much do display anger more often. Since adhd is often defined as a deficit in self regulation, this would follow logically.

Get all the ideas you can find then see what works for you and your child. Treat this as just one more idea. These are wonderful kids but tough to raise.

Dizfriz

 

 

I agree with NoTellin, adhd'ers tend to have a sence of rage and anger in them that I believe comes form the unlearned social skills as well as the uncontrollable feeling they have when not properly medicated(and I tried everything first) The fish oil Is good I believe, if you can get you child to take it. Omega 3's have been shown to help ADHD. My child won't take anything let alone fish oil, but I have added flax to some things and he gets it that way. Good Luck

ADHD people have a rage problem. It is related to implusivity. Read Driven to
Distraction. Do you have social skills classes there? Perhaps try some social skills books.

Definately google the Eaton Hall Study, the Durham-Oxford Study and the University of Australia study on ADHD. I suspect that a therapeutic dose of high-EPA fish oil would really help with the aggressive tendencies. AT least, that's what some of these studies show.

Hi All,

I haven't posted in a long time but really need to just vent a little.  My 8yo ds has severe ADHD and is on Ritalin 5mg/3x a day.  He's been on for just under a year.  I just had a conversation with his teacher.  He is doing okay in her class but has real trouble controlling his temper when things don't go his way.  He can get pretty physical and this generally makes him unpoplular with the other kids.  He still does not listen in music and gym and is a real problem at recess.  There have also apparently been complaints by other teachers of some of the kids on the bus.  These kids our in our neighbourhood and I'm worried sick that he is alienating these kids who he has been friendly with up to now.

 He is doing reasonably well in school, but not really to his full potential as everyone agrees he is a very bright kid.

Has anyone had issues with temper and found medication other than Ritalin more effective in controlling the aggressiveness?

Honestly, at this point, we are just hoping to keep him out of jail and not go insane by the time he becomes an adult.....

Gregsmom

kids learn from example, and when no example is given, they improvise. 

I don't think it's either thing.  His teacher feels he just hasn't figured out how to cope when things don't go his way.  I have noticed with his cousins that when they play and it's not how he wants it or they aren't listening, he gets really angry and starts shouting and then it escalates to the physical.  I try to get him to talk calmly when gets that way with us but it generally takes a few trys and he can be extremely stubborn!

 

 

Hi gregsmom!

My son had a boy in his class that was having real trouble with anger, meanness, depression(i think) and bullying others. For several years my son and he didn't get along. My son tried to befriend him, but the other kid started to pick on him for his speech and that he like trains, for example.

This boy was undiagnosed and unmedicated. Once he became medicated and probably counseling for anger and how to handle it at such a young age, he changed. My son and he have become great friends!

I originally thought he was the next juvenile delinquent, he actually had the police walk him out of school in first grade for something he did!

I would look at the current meds he is on, if any, and discuss counseling therapy for him. He is young, but can be taught to control it.

Do you think there could be any bipolar going on????

This young boy got his life back and has really turned around!

is he bullying for attention, or for kicks?

Last week, my son apparantly "attacked" a younger child, hitting and kicking him.  We were called in to the school and after a long chat with the principle, my son was sent home with me (I work from home).   

The principle feels my son is aggressive and very angry and holds grudges.  I don't see any of this at home except for regular childhood frustrations.  However, my son has definitely been alienating himself from what little friends he used to have and is becoming lonely.   He is incredibly dominant and wants his own way all the time.  I guess because home life is relatively incident free, I don't see the associated aggression.  (Though I know he is capable of it.)

He resumes play therapy next week with the focus on this latest incident and I am hoping very much that this will help.

We first added guanfacine for help with hyperactivity, impulsiveness and defiance, with the stimulant mainly for school focus. This helped alot. A teasing incident increased anxiety and aggressiveness so risperdal was added. These meds work for my youngest daughter's rage and aggression. We also coached her on words to use when mad (appropriate ways of expressing anger), and gave praise as soon as a rage episode ended and for any improvements on how she handled things. Rages and aggression became fewer and less severe with time. She now gets mad more appropriately (most of the time).The studies call for 1000 mg daily of high EPA fish oil of a minimum ratio of 4:1 (EPA/DHA).

My son experienced anger and agression on Metadate.  I too was afraid he'd end up in jail.  He couldn't play with other boys because it always ended in a fight.  I had to supervise everything.  (this was 4th grade).  My doctor said the aggression was because the meds weren't working and it was a result of his ADHD.

Due to other issues (severe tics) I stopped the Metadate.   Guess what - the aggression INSTANTLY went away.  He never had another fight.  He's in 7th grade now and he still has not had any fights.  This was the kid I was convinced would end up in Jail.

It is very possible the Ritalin is the cause.  It may not be, but in my experience it was and removing it changed his life.

At my son's school there is a behavior therapist that had weekly classes for my son who was also really angry and aggressive some days last year (1st grade).

One day last year he even chocked a child, a friend, with his bare hands because he laughed at him. My son did feel very remorse and apologized. Many kids, boys in particular, have an outwardly way of dealing with emtion - not to mention the meds may be wrong.

Is your son this way at home? If so, don't get angry at him - stop feeding into the negative behavior with more negative behavior - i.e. When he gets angry or lashes out at home - tell him in a calm voice it is unacceptable behavior and send him to timeout (where ever that may be in your house) tell him to stay there until he calms down. It will take a while to get him to do that but it works.

My son was very angry when he moved in with us 10 months ago from foster care and he witnessed a lot of violence with his bio. parents. He used to hit or scream at his 5 year old sister  A LOT.

Our son is on tenex with I think helps control some impulsivity but not all - at least not in my case - I had to use behavior modification and alternative meds like magnesium and Omega 3. He is so much better now with anger - he still can get angry but he is less violent. Although I have had a recent surge in some heighten anger lately but there was another reason for that - my husband and I for the first time left the kids for a weekend. My mom stayed with them. Anyway-

Figure out what may be bothering your son. It could be a mixture of meds, social skills and frustration.
Hi gregsmom,

I would definitely look at the medication.  This summer, we used regular short-acting Ritalin and my son would rebound constantly.  He'd have 2 good hours and one bad hour.  It was horrible, but I didn't understand what was going on until I started reading this forum.  He was angry and out-of-control, which I hadn't seen from him to that extent in years.  Before that he'd always been on longer-acting forms of the med and done fine as far as anger (except at the end of the day). 

Anyway, he is back on Daytrana (patch) and doing great.  I have learned how important the smoothness of delivery is for anyone with ADHD to be at their best.  We have just added Tenex as well, and I believe that we are starting to see even better behavior than before.

Please consider asking the doctor for a longer-acting form of Ritalin, like LA.  Then you can see if 5 mg is enough.  Being undermedicated might be an issue as well, but I would check the rebound problem first.
I have to sometimes ponder.

As adult ADHD'ers, when we know our impulses are raging we can turn to someone in the workplace, school etc. and say, "I gotta get out of here for a bit" then take a walk or go lock our office door for a bit or whatever. Then we can go back and deal with a stressful situation sensibly.

Kids in school often don't get the 'walk away' option. ADHD kids sometimes need to get up out of their seat when they're overstimulated, go to the washroom and jump up and down, run down the hallway and around the building a few times--whatever.

I sometimes wonder how many school fights could be avoided with ALL kids if they were allowed to just get up and wander away when they need to?

I also have to consider that sometimes, when the kid okay at home in some cases is that because s/he can do that? Or that there's far less stimulation in a quiet home life than a noisy, busy classroom?

Just points to ponder...

It sounds like his meds aren't doing it for him.  Have you tried an extended release med?  Once my daughter got on it, her temperment really "evened" out because she wasn't coming down a couple times a day - it was more  steady.  Also, maybe it's time to try a different medication all together.  If he has been on it for a year, you have definitely given it a chance and with all of the medications available to us today, he should be able to  function at a higher level than what you are describing.  I hope everything works out well for you and him.  It can be so frustrating and heartbreaking, knowing you want to help him but not knowing exactly how.

Good luck

I would try social skills classes and socials story books.The Eaton Hall study would be especially relevant for you.