loveycats

New Member
I am trying to find information on oppositional defiant disorder. Where is a good place to start on this site? Is there a forum for dealing with behavior problems? Please point me in the right direction.
 

smallworld

Moderator
Welcome! This whole forum deals with children who have problem behaviors!

I have to caution you, however, that most of don't believe that ODD is a stand-alone diagnosis. ODD is generally fueled by an underlying cause such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, an autism spectrum disorder, etc. When the underlying cause is identified and treated, the oppositional behaviors typically subside and improve.

Can you tell us a little more about your situation? How old is your child and what behaviors are you seeing?

One book that we recommend is The Explosive Child by Ross Greene. It has helped many of us here parent our extra-challenging children, no matter what the diagnosis is.

Again, welcome.
 

Marguerite

Active Member
Welcome, loveycats. As smallworld said, the ODD issue can be more complex, and yet more simple, than we are led to believe. Has your son been given a formal diagnosis? I first heard about ODD when difficult child 3's class teacher suggested it in an outburst about my son, she was not coping with him. We already knew he had autism; when I looked up ODD I could see why she suggested it, but what I really hate about the ODD label is the implication (in the name) that the child is deliberately choosing to be difficult. Kids generally want to be good, not bad. A kid who is oppositional has generally learned to do this, because the usual discipline methods just don't as they should on some kids. It's not bad parenting at all - it's just a discipline method that should work, but is a "wrong fit" for some kids. It can actually create the problem instead of helping it. The most common culprit is strict punishment-based discipline, where some person in authority brings on tighter and tighter controls in response to escalating bad behaviour. it should work - but with these particular kids, that sort of discipline is actually modelling the type of controlling, oppositional behaviour we are trying to stop.

Read the book. Read our discussions of the book.

Whatever is wrong with your son, we can help.

Marg
 
B

Bunny

Guest
I have an 11 year old who was diagnosed with general anxiety disorder and ODD this past summer. In our case, we believe that the anxiety is what fuels the ODD behavior. If we can control the anxiety, the ODD behavior gets better. It never goes away completely (unfortunately), but it can get better. We started him on Celexa, which turned out to be a nightmare for us. Made him far more aggressive that he ever was before. So we weaned him off of that and started him on Risperdal. That, so far, seems to be a great fit for him. Like I said, the anxiety fueled ODD behavior has not gone away completely, but he is far more level and easier to deal with when things do not go his way.

Pam
 
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