ODD and Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED)

cndylou

New Member
Hello. I'm new here and am having difficulty with my 11 yr old son. He is currently suspended from school for 4 days due to an outburst of behavior. We are currently seeking new MD for help. I am at wits end. He is Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) and ODD and I think very depressed. He does fine when he hets his way but when he doesn't ...........look out. He is becoming more physically aggressive,lies with almost every breath, cries about everything, and everything is always someone elses fault. After he has his explosion he acts like nothing happened or is apologetic and becomes super sweet. Has anybody been through this combination of diagnosis? If so what seemed to help? medications? Sorry to ramble on but I am in deperate need of advice. Nothing seems to phase him disapline wise. He just has no interest in anything or doesn't seem to care about anything.He had previously been on Tenex,Trilepal and Risperadol. They didn't seem to help.He's on nothing now. I hoped he would "grow out of it". Thanks in advance for sharing any experiences.
 

nvts

Active Member
Hi! Welcome to the crowd! I don't know what Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) is, but ODD is a party unto itself!

Have you read The Explosive Child by Ross Greene? The tactics work for some, but the insight he gives as to how our kids brains/thought processes work are amazing. It makes it a little easier to cope with the garbage that flies out of their mouths.

Where did he get the diagnosis? Have you had a neuropsychologist done on him? There are so many things that could be going wrong that you would be best off getting all of the testing done before you try to medicate.

Does he have an IEP at school? This could help with future suspensions. Does he have a school Functional Behavior Analysis (FBA) or a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP)? These are done when kids have behavioral problems and allow the school with you and his therapist (if you've got one) work out a plan to help him curb his behavior before it gets out of hand. It also gives them a plan to follow if it DOES get out of hand!

Again, welcome to the crowd - you'll get a lot of understanding, caring and friendship here! We've all been there in one way shape or form!

:smile:

Beth
 

smallworld

Moderator
Welcome! If your son is depressed and explosive, my suggestion is to find a board-certified child psychiatrist to evaluate him. Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) means the explosions are occurring periodically and the child exhibits normal behavior between episodes. If what you're seeing is happening non-stop, it's gone beyond Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED). In addition, whatever underlying condition is causing these explosions (whether it's anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, etc) is fueling the ODD behaviors. So when you treat the underlying condition, the ODD behaviors will generally subside. That's why it's so important to have a thorough evaluation by the right professional to understand what's going on with your son.

Depending on what the psychiatrist discovers, medications can and do help in certain instances. Unfortunately, it's a trial and error process that may take some time to discover the right combo. The medications your son has trialed may very well not have been the right ones to address the condition he's suffering from. Again, that's why you need to know exactly what's going on with him.

Again, welcome and good luck.
 
Top