Troubled Teens Resources

Oppositional Defiance Disorder is said to be a difficult diagnosis. The over arching question is when do you decide a child or a troubled teen is just displaying age appropriate defiance or when their behavior points to a more serious psychological problem. The article linked below seems to depict the distinction clearly in describing the totally unacceptable behavior of a child with the ODD diagnosis.

“Betty knew there was something wrong by the time her daughter was a preschooler…But the older she got, the more Catherine spun out of control and seemed unable to control any impulses. By the time she was 13, she had run away several times.
[..]
Once she went to a fair that featured a travelling midway and never came home. …Another time, Betty discovered that Catherine was allowing her friends to slice her arms and legs with knives…Whenever she didn’t get her way, Catherine would explode into verbal and physical abuse.
Not long ago, she threw such a violent fit that she demolished her own bedroom and Betty had to call the police.”

Clearly the behavior exhibited by “Catherine” far exceeds the normal tantrums and crankiness that comes with adolescence.Even though the child was diagnosed with ODD at five, lack of effective intervention at that early age laid the ground for the necessity of a teen crisis intervention years later.

Unfortunately Catherine is a real teen and the story hasn’t ended. Catherine has run away yet again and her mother waits anxiously for her safe return.

“Betty hasn’t heard from Catherine in weeks, and she’s growing frantic. For all she knows, her 13-year-old baby is living on the streets. “Despite all this, I love her,” says Betty. “And I know she loves me.”

(source)