Defiant Oppositional Behavior is more commonly called Oppositional Defiant Disorder or ODD for short. It is a serious behavioral disorder. Unruly and uncooperative behavior is often noticed in early childhood but this disorder overlooked and contributed to the terrible twos and shrugged off by the adoring parent. Occasionally, it is not taken serious until the teen years. Some children show no signs of this disorder until the teens. Again, it can easily be tossed off as the typical rebellious teen. So there is a fine line between the normal actions of certain ages and an actual behavior disorder.
The key word here is “defiant”, and this does describe the condition. The child seems to resent and rebel again authority and rules of any kind. This is coupled by being uncooperative, annoying, and negative about almost everything. This negative behavior appears to be intentional and of course in most cases, the child certainly knows better. This type of behavior causes the child to have poor school performance and to be disliked by and isolated from his own peers and of course not popular with teachers and other adults in his life.
This condition is quite troubling to the other people in the child’s life for obvious reasons. A cause and cure for this condition needs to be determined for the sake of the child and of those around him/her.
There are various theories as to the cause of Oppositional Defiant Behavioral Disorder. One popular believe is that the problem originally started in the toddler years. The child had a hard time separating from his main parent figure (usually the mother), which is generally a smooth and natural development to independence. The rebellious personality and attitude towards authority figures is considered by some to be a continuation of his lack of adapting to this natural separation problem.
Other experts claim that the behavior is a learned personality when bad behavior is rewarded. When the child acts out, he receives attention or possibly even a “reward” to make him behave. This negative reinforcement “encourages” the child to repeat the bad behavior. This theory is very easy to understand and also easy to change with perseverance.
Parents would do well to explore various parenting methods to produce positive results. We all do the best we can, or think we do, but experts who have studied the subject may have some simple solutions that will work for your child.
Most experts would agree that the child with serious defiant behaviors at a young age should first be given a thorough physical to make sure that he/she is in good physical health. The physician may suggest that one have the child examined by a child psychologist or child psychiatrist. These professionals may be able to determine if the cause is depression or an attention deficit disorder as opposed to an oppositional defiant behavioral pattern which is now commonly called ODD (oppositional defiant disorder) for short.
Do not give up on your child and consider them a lost cause or that you are guilty of being a bad parent. Each child is unique and an individual and may need to be dealt with quite differently from their siblings.
There are very good parenting resources available. Be prepared to be told that you may have to adjust your own behavior! Consider the professionals and all the professional materials available. Do not feel alone in your quest for a peaceful and loving relationship with your child and know that there are many other families striving to solve or control this behavior in their children.
Author Resource:
Defiant Oppositional Disorder staff understands the difficulty you may be going through. If you want to help yourself and your child now please visit http://www.defiantoppositionaldisorder.com
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