NeedhelpinCT
New Member
Hi everyone:
I just joined this forum,and so I apologize if this has been posted already, or multiple times.
My daughter is 5 years old--she will be 6 in May. I think she may have ODD. She constantly argues with myself and my husband about the most mundane things--putting away her toys, getting dressed, going to the bathroom (she has a whole withholding thing going on there wherein she will only go once or twice a day most of the week). She says she 'doesn't remember' or "forgot" being told things all the time. She will not do something unless directed 5, 10 times, or until I get really upset and yell at her. This has been going on her whole life, though most markedly in the last year. She does not have full-fledged temper tantrums per say, though she will stomp off when finally forced to do something she doesn't want to do. She also occasionally throws things, but otherwise does not hit or try to injure us, or herself. Other days, she is almost perfectly fine. We can have one or two days a week where she will argue with us very little, or not at all. At these times, she is very sweet and attentive. She is also good when she is involved in an art project or a book, or other singular play (she is an only child). In fact, she's in the other room watching a video, very calmly, right now.
I take medication for depression and was raised by a mentally ill mother who had multiple Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) issues, depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety disorder, and extreme rage. She never received treatment other than valium and Xanex (which of course hurt rather than helped), but I now know through my own therapy and research that she is/was mentally ill. My maternal grandfather was also mentally ill (probably mild/intermittent schizophrenia). I hear that ODD can be somewhat hereditary or secondary to other histories of familial mental illness. So that makes me curious about my daughter.
I freely admit that I am not always a calm parent, so it's possible that my daughter is simply reacting to my poor parenting skills (yelling when she upsets me, losing my patience, crying when frustrated). My husband says that I am making it worse and should ignore her and the behavior will eventually stop, which seems to be what I read about ODD as well.
PS--My daughter does *not* act out at school (or so the teachers say--she seems to do well there) nor does she misbehave for other adults. It's just for us.
So am I jumping to conclusions here, or does this sound like ODD?
Any advice is appreciated!
I just joined this forum,and so I apologize if this has been posted already, or multiple times.
My daughter is 5 years old--she will be 6 in May. I think she may have ODD. She constantly argues with myself and my husband about the most mundane things--putting away her toys, getting dressed, going to the bathroom (she has a whole withholding thing going on there wherein she will only go once or twice a day most of the week). She says she 'doesn't remember' or "forgot" being told things all the time. She will not do something unless directed 5, 10 times, or until I get really upset and yell at her. This has been going on her whole life, though most markedly in the last year. She does not have full-fledged temper tantrums per say, though she will stomp off when finally forced to do something she doesn't want to do. She also occasionally throws things, but otherwise does not hit or try to injure us, or herself. Other days, she is almost perfectly fine. We can have one or two days a week where she will argue with us very little, or not at all. At these times, she is very sweet and attentive. She is also good when she is involved in an art project or a book, or other singular play (she is an only child). In fact, she's in the other room watching a video, very calmly, right now.
I take medication for depression and was raised by a mentally ill mother who had multiple Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) issues, depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety disorder, and extreme rage. She never received treatment other than valium and Xanex (which of course hurt rather than helped), but I now know through my own therapy and research that she is/was mentally ill. My maternal grandfather was also mentally ill (probably mild/intermittent schizophrenia). I hear that ODD can be somewhat hereditary or secondary to other histories of familial mental illness. So that makes me curious about my daughter.
I freely admit that I am not always a calm parent, so it's possible that my daughter is simply reacting to my poor parenting skills (yelling when she upsets me, losing my patience, crying when frustrated). My husband says that I am making it worse and should ignore her and the behavior will eventually stop, which seems to be what I read about ODD as well.
PS--My daughter does *not* act out at school (or so the teachers say--she seems to do well there) nor does she misbehave for other adults. It's just for us.
So am I jumping to conclusions here, or does this sound like ODD?
Any advice is appreciated!