Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is a children’s mental health impulse disorder that causes a child to defy their parents, break rules, and other serious behaviour problems. Children with this disorder are frequently irritable and angry, beyond a point for their parents to easily settle them. To make a diagnosis, a child must have been displaying extreme behavioural problems for six months or longer. These behavioural problems could be, loosing temper, annoying people on purpose, blaming others for their mistakes or arguing with authority figures. These behaviours can take place either at school or at home with family.

This disorder can be treated with behavioural therapy, with a focus on improving the parent-child relationship. The involvement of parents is absolutely crucial for the child’s progression. The parents of the child must learn to set realistic expectations of the child, praise the child for meeting the expectations and use consequences when they don’t. there are many programs available to assist the parents in learning how to set these boundaries, such as the Positive Parenting Programme, Parent Management Training and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy.

If you would like more information on oppositional defiant disorder, please follow this link for more: Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD): A Quick Guide (childmind.org)