Treating Oppositional Defiant Disorder in Children

If your child has been diagnosed as having ODD or oppositional defiant disorder this is not the time to despair. Instead it is a time for you as a parent to educate yourself about ODD and find you how you can help your very defiant child. Keep in mind this is a condition which affects some children and even some teenagers. Studies have shown that this disorder is between 1 to 16 % of all school-aged children. It of course can disrupt your family life especially if there are other children in the household and it can disturb the child's schooling. The biggest problem is that ODD makes a child show such disturbing behavior as tantrums, violence, aggressive defiance against all rules and regulations, arguing and so on. One important part in dealing with ODD is therapy. The child will be counseled by himself and with his family. The most common form of therapy is behavioral therapy. In this case mental health professionals will help the child to cease negative behaviors and adopt more positive ones. A very important part of this process is to set goals, rewards and consequences. You as parents participating in this therapy will learn how to help your child to achieve his goals.

Parents are urged to make use of definite strategies like:

Must be prepared to provide structure for the family by creating routines and schedulesMust make sure the child understand what the expectations and consequences areMust give the child certain responsibilitiesBe prepared to praise a lot when your child succeedsMust remain calm and rational while the child is acting upMust be consistent when enforcing consequences

These types of strategies are meant to help the child with ODD to change his behavior and to make the home more structured and peaceful for the sake of the entire family. Although parents don't like to give their children drugs there are medications which have been proven to be effective in reducing negative behaviors which are associated with ODD. The two drugs are Ritalin and Strattera. There is plenty of information online about this. Other than that parents have the choice of bringing their child to therapy sessions in which they also join or to learn how to effectively work with their child at home. There is a wealth of information on ODD online from DVDs, to strategies, to step-by-step guides and even e-books.

Whatever you may decide it is advisable before beginning any type of therapy with your child to seek a professionals advice about what you are thinking of doing. This will ease your mind that you have made the right decision and it will save you from making any mistake down the line and making a bad situation worse. Remember above all your child is looking to you to help them and he may be just as miserable as everyone else is around him due to his behavioral problems.

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