Like most psychological and emotional disorders, the cause of Oppositional Defiant Disorders, or Odd, is yet to be determined by experts on the field of psychology. However, recent studies claim that biological and social factors play major roles in the onset of this disorder.

Focusing on the latter, some experts are working on the assumption that the development of ODD is brought about by a series of experiences that occurred during the early stages of the teen with the ODD. This sequence of occurrences are those that are bordering on the teen’s negative experiences with regards to ineffective parenting practices, as well as poor peer interaction.

Hence, in order to veer away from the possibility of an onset of this disorder, parents are advised to look after their children to a greater extent. Because most disorders’ onset develop during a child’s formative years, it follows that effective parenting practices and authority figures’ functional child rearing techniques should be enforced.

Teens with Oppositional Defiant Disorder or ODD may be quite a handful. In addition to teens being naturally difficult for parents, having a teen who has ODD is by far harder and more challenging for parents. For this reason, therapists insist that aside from their teen patients, the parents of the teens with ODD should also undergo some sort of training and therapy or counseling sessions. This is in order for the parents to prepare themselves for the challenge that lays ahead, which is basically what parenting a teen who is diagnosed with ODD entails.

Some parents heed the doctors’ advice. However, some brush it off, justifying that they don’t need to undergo such counseling and therapy sessions, or that they don’t have the time to see a specialist, much less attend therapy sessions. While these reasons may seem sound and valid, experts continue to reiterate the importance of family counseling, stating that once a family member is diagnosed to have an emotional or psychological disorder, the chances that the whole family itself will not be affected is very slim.

On that note, parents of ODD teens who cannot or will not undergo counseling are thus advised to at least keep three coping skills in mind. The first and the most important of all is to learn to calm yourself. While this may seem very basic, nevertheless, it is still very essential. The second thing to remember is to take some time off. As parenting ODD teens can be very stressful and frustrating, parents are thus advised to spend some time off to relax, think, and to restore their energy. Finally, therapists say that the last skill is to be forgiving towards your teen. Amidst the overbearing ways and the defiant attitude that they extol, it is necessary to start with a fresh outlook and a clean slate all the time. Thus, in effect, parents should learn to ease themselves of the disappointments, and frustrations that they feel about their children and the situation that the family has to face.

Teens are innately oppositional, especially when they are stressed, frustrated, or upset. So when she started to notice that her fourteen-year-old daughter, Kim, has been having frequent temper tantrums, and has been very spiteful lately, often talking in a mean and hateful manner, she didn’t think there was anything odd about it. After all, Kim has always been known to give in to her moods easily. But when Kim started to resort to excessive arguing with her father, Joanna started to worry. In her heart, she knew there was something not quite right about her daughter.

After weeks of convincing Kim to seek medical help, Kim finally obliged.

The doctor conducted a comprehensive evaluation on Kim, asking her about her emotional health history as well as her recent experiences in life. After a while, the doctor gave his diagnosis: Kim was found to have ODD, otherwise known as Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Unfortunately, Kim did not only have ODD. She was also found to be exhibiting symptoms for Conduct Disorder..

Stunned, Joanna started doing research on ODD and on Conduct Disorders. Initially, she found out that ODD can be treated through Parent Training Programs to help manage the child’s behavior, Individual Psychotherapy to develop more effective anger management, Family Psychotherapy to improve communication, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to assist problem solving and decrease negativity, and Social Skills Training to increase flexibility and improve frustration tolerance with peers.