Oppositional Defiance Disorder (What the HELL is this crap?!)

Saw a mention of this on another thread.

Sorry if I sound like a naive child here, but...

Are you SERIOUS?!

So, a dislike of authority figures is a mental illness, is it? What if there's a reason that the authority should be disliked or opposed? What if the slaughter of innocent people, force-fed GMOs, poisoned water and damaging vaccines actually angers some of us?

Oh. Nope. If we have a problem with all that, we must be psychotic.

Here, take your suicide murder pills, shut up, and go back to sleep.

This "disorder" implies that disagreement with the government is like a holy sin.

Like damning God, or something bizarre.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) as an ongoing pattern of anger-guided disobedience, hostility, and defiant behavior toward authority figures which goes beyond the bounds of normal childhood behavior. Children suffering from this disorder may appear very stubborn and often angry. A diagnosis of ODD cannot be given if the child presents with conduct disorder (CD)

Wow...

Common features of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) include excessive, often persistent anger, frequent temper tantrums or angry outbursts, as well as disregard for authority. Children and adolescents with ODD often purposely annoy others, blame others for their own mistakes, and are easily disrupted. Parents often observe more rigid and irritable behaviors than in siblings.[2] In addition, these young people may appear resentful of others, and when someone does something they don't like they prefer revenge over more sensitive solutions.

^ This paragraph implies that people who oppose authority are automatically crybaby children who throw temper-tantrums when things don't go their way.

Actively refuses to comply with majority's requests or consensus-supported rules

^ This is the first symptom on the list. So, basically, any kind of activism falls under this category.

The other symptoms basically fall under the category of character traits in a neurotic-type personality.

To see the full definition, see here.

I apologize if this isn't "new" news, but...

God, this kind of crap makes my blood boil.

What the hell ISN'T considered a mental illness anymore?

When I was younger, because I was jumped a lot in middle school, I became angry and lashed out on people. So, they diagnosed me with ED "Emotional Disturbance" and put me on anti-depressants. That stuff messed me up quite a bit. Never going there again.

Any personality or mentality that doesn't fall under a standard, "consensus-supported" system is a mental illness.

Our society, especially our schools, are quick to label.

However, ODD is a real disorder. I've worked with children who truly have ODD.

It's not that these children are rebelling against authority (I work with young kids, 6-8). But they lose their collective cool when asked to do something simple, like open your crayon box. This request has resulted in these children throwing extreme tantrums...throwing furniture, punching holes in walls, biting, kicking, punching others, you'd be surprised at how much damage a small child can cause.

It is a real disorder, but I believe it's over-diagnosed.

What the hell ISN'T considered a mental illness anymore?

Nothing.

The thing I don't understand, or haven't figured out the long term extent of yet is. If we can all now qualify for some type of "disorder" and can be put on meds, get disability, who the heck is going to "feed" the system by actually working and paying taxes?

reply to post by XxNightAngelusxX


It´s all about money, if you think about it.

Big Pharma are actively lobbying to have more and more "symptoms" identified as "treatable diseases", giving them all the more reason to research and develop new medicines to "cure/alleviate" it.

Same with the actual doctors/psychologists payed to define/develop/diagnose these "disorders". They are also deep in the pockets of Big Pharma.

It is a natural concequence of the current monetary system based on greed and endless growth, if you think about it.

From your link...

In some cases, ODD can progress into antisocial personality disorder. This strong correlation between strong defiance in childhood and adulthood may suggest similar mechanisms for hostility towards established authority by children and by adults.

There it is. Disobeying a direct order from a law enforcement official. If you question authority, that is annoying (which is also being written into law in New York).

Now if only they could pass laws to require us to love and worship them, too.

reply to post by XxNightAngelusxX


This whole situation made me think of this.......

a similar thing has happened with anorexia nervosa over the last few years..
we're told it was / is a mental condition, now it seems the push is on to cover more ground.
in australia now there's a genetic study underway (for anorexia)

if we follow this out.. they're going to eventually claim it comes down to a gene

a bit like what you're posting about now..

..we're being led to think along these lines: there's nothing we can do (about anything) ..the things we think don't matter.. it's all in the genes and we have no ability to change anything..

..next thing you know, celebrities will be chopping their breasts off to thwart potential cancers

..and there will be some pill or berkey water filter you're supposed to buy

So basically, If I get this right, we cant let kids be kids and express themselves to develop their personalities.

Being angry or upset when you dont get what you want is a normal HUMAN reaction (especially for kids). As long as its not excessive of course.

I guess that every way is good for Big Pharma to make their Billions!!

reply to post by XxNightAngelusxX


why dont "they" make bad-parenting, a mental disorder?

Here's a list of the (general) disorders on the list:
www.m.webmd.com - Types of Mental Illness...

I'm not sure which section ODD would fall under.

reply to post by smyleegrl


I agree, with you when I was a kid I got diagnosed with ADD.

Now I'm sure that may be real, but I don't have it, nor have I ever. I just get bored, and don't want to listen if I'm interested I never lose concentration.

Talk about a zombie that's exactly what that medicine did to me,I think it was called ritalin I might be wrong I wasn't listening when they told me....

I think they need to calm down with the it's a mental problem "don't worry we have a medicine for that" mentality.

reply to post by terriblyvexed

Ritalin is a stimulant, not a depressant. Kind of like coffee, but I think stronger.

Supposedly a lot of people with undiagnosed ADHD/ADD are drinking coffee.

Randomly googled this about Ritalin:
www.preventcancer.com - Ritalin: Stimulant for Cancer?

Most of the information there I think is standard, except for the s*** about cancer.

There's this:
www.nytimes.com - Warning Urged on Stimulants Like Ritalin...

.........
The votes came after F.D.A. medical officers described reports of 25 sudden deaths among people taking stimulants — the deaths were mostly children — and a preliminary analysis of millions of health records that suggested stimulants might increase the risks of strokes and serious arrhythmias in children and adults. The reports of sudden deaths never exceeded one in a million for any stimulant drug, although the F.D.A. usually receives reports of only a fraction of drug problems.

The preliminary analysis suggested that the stimulants might increase heart risks more than twofold. Such an increase may not be significant in children, whose heart risks are low, but could cause concern in adults, panel members said.
.........

reply to post by jonnywhite


Ha ha, like I said I wasn't listening ritalin is the only thing I know for ADD, so I'll just call it the zombie pill...

This isn't about kids who say "no" or get a little upset or angry when told to do something. These are kids who have (for lack of a better way to say it) no middle ground.

I was of the opinion that these disorders were over-diagnosed. I would look at a kid having a meltdown in the middle of the grocery store and think to myself that his mom needed to whoop his butt a little more often so he'd stop being a brat. That came back and bit me in the rear in a big way. My 14 year old son has Asperger's. I believe he might also have ODD, the psychiatrist thinks he might be bi-polar. He doesn't have shades of grey where anger/defiance are concerned. I say "clean your room" he screams profanities and throws stuff. I'm accused of ruining his life and being a mean old bat. I never want him to have any fun ever and suck at life. It doesn't always happen but it's more often than I think is normal. With his older brothers I might get the eye roll, big sigh, grumble under breath routine but never a huge blow up because I told them to do something that everyone has to do.

ODD is not about normal adolescent/teenage defiance or bucking the majority because you're going through that rebellious stage. These are kids who are absolutely contrary in their attitudes sometimes as young as five or six years old. In a violent or aggressive way that is not your typical "Brat throwing a hissy fit".

reply to post by terriblyvexed

I probably have a combination of aspergers or OCPD or OCD or ADD or ADHD or something similar. Other possibilities might include SAD or anxiety disorders. What do I think? Not sure. I know that I had a lot of problems communicating with others growing up and still have trouble.

But I got good grades in school. I even went on to get a small degree. Since I graduated HS in the mid-late 90's, I think they missed me. If it had been later, they'd have me hooked on something

Strangely, I'm glad they missed me. No matter how my life ends up, I don't want those drugs.

reply to post by XxNightAngelusxX


Uhhhhhhhhhhh . . . hello?

1. Congrats if you've never had the 'pleasure' of being around such a severely ATTACHMENT DISORDERED kid.

2. Such labels are merely SHORTHAND LABELS that professionals use instead of having to write a paragraph or more of description every time they mention it.

3. The definitions are quite specific as you have documented.

4. That particular one is NOT talking about more or less rational hostility to outrageous tyranny on the part of authorities. That particular label is NOT talking about even rebellion against things that 'ought' to be rebelled against.

5. That label is talking about children and teens who are sooooooooo hurt and soooooooo angry and soooooo vengeful that they virtually loathe the ground ANY parental or other authority walk on. They loathe having to breathe the same air. They are determined to vengefully strike out in violently physical and violently verbal ways to the limits of their capacity. Try living with or treating such a child for 3 hours, much less 27/7/365 and I suspect you'd come up with a lot worse labels than that.

reply to post by jonnywhite


Ritalin has the Exact Opposite effect on someone who is HyperActive. In the 70's my brother suffered from Hyperactivity. It was all my mother could do to keep up with him. So she took him to the doctor and they prescribed him Ritalin. He became a Slow Mover so to speak. He was on it for 2 years then they winged him off of it. After that he didn't have any problems with Hyperactivity.

Don't you folks get it yet. This is all a natural consequence of our financial system. Everything is tied together. If pharmaceutical companies don't find ways to grow, our whole economy collapses. Your mutual funds and retirement plans depend on this type of crap. Our way of life is a runaway freight train and its going to crash if we don't find a way to stop it.

They have a label for everything now.. each carrying its own prescriptive medication too.

My daughter is strong willed (now 13). She was always defiant as your op suggests.

I medicated her with a high dose of consistency and discipline and now she is an angel who is empathetic and respects rules.

When she was a toddler on up the age of 9 she was extremely hard to handle and could not take her to a public place, however I never let her personality rule the roost, I taught her and disciplined her. It took a lot of hard work and dedication but we made it through it.

She is awesome! Yes, she is still strong willed but nothing at all like she used to be.

Kids are medicated, labeled, and spoiled these days.... blows my mind.

My theory is we're getting soft as we learn more. Softer and softer.

More and more they're going to make things into a everybody wins kind of "game". We're going to be increasingly protected from dangers in the world and ever more intolerant of them.

We will be controlling more and more things. Not just our brain or our body. We'll be controlling the whole planet. Its climate. Its ecosystems. Its oceans. Its future. Even our DNA. You'll be seeing more strange family arrangements. More gay parents and gender-neutral types. Babies will be gene-mapped and the bad ones will be discarded (brain disease risks, heart deformities, cancer risks, etc). Pets might be gene-mapped too so that your pet doesn't have extra disorder or disease risks.

The only freedom will be "out there". There might be some obscure cults, sort of like the Amish, but earth will still be stifling to freedom. People will need to leave our planet indefinitely for freedom to really grow. The first several generations that have left earth will be almost identical to those on earth. But as time goes by, differences will emerge between earth and its sister colonies elsewhere.

By "freedom" I mean that people of earth will be very tight. In the future, the borders between countries will be less defined. It'll be more like a super-culture. My own theory is that with each new generation we dismiss a few lessons learned in the past. And as the generations stack up, more and more lessons are dismissed and forgotten. Now, new generations are good enough at surviving, but because they're so tight they're resistant to any lessons not already learned from the past, especially ones that're dismissed. This means you need a part of human culture to be separated, so that new lessons can be learned that have been dismissed (and forgotten). Basically, for the human species to survive, it might need to have some separation, as opposed to none. This means we're going to need to explore and expand our territory so that there's some relatively separate evolution.

What I'm saying is it's possibly bad for there to be a ONE culture because we need more diversity to ensure that at least some members of our species are making a better evolutionary choice. For this to happen, what we really need is separation in time & space to isolate members.