Troubled Teens Resources

As parents with a troubled teen, Jan and David had a long list of “disorders” that could be attached to their son’s behavior. They are in the midst of the long and often arduous task of reviewing and researching troubled teen boarding schools and various military schools for their out-of-control teen. They found the ODD “diagnosis” useful only in so far as it facilitated the processing of their insurance requirements.

The relatively recent introduction of oppositional defiant disorder to the lexicon of teen behavioral ailments seem almost meaningless to parents today. They simply want the behavior, regardless of how the professional journals describe it to end.

The following are the symptoms associated with oppositional defiant disorder:

A pattern of negativistic, hostile, and defiant behavior lasting at least 6 months, during which four (or more) of the following are present:

• often loses temper
• often argues with adults
• often actively defies or refuses to comply with adults’ requests or rules
• often deliberately annoys people
• often blames others for his or her mistakes or misbehavior
• is often touchy or easily annoyed by others
• is often angry and resentful
• is often spiteful or vindictive

The disturbance in behavior causes clinically significant impairment in social, academic, or occupational functioning.
(Source)

ODD describes behaviors that professionals at troubled teen boarding schools have long been successfully treating with a variety of teen behavioral approaches and therapies.