Lifelong Implications of ODD
Behavioral disorders aren't cured, they're improved. That means that if your child is diagnosed with ODD, there will never be a day when he's fully “cured.” Take hope in the fact that if you work consistently and diligently, you can very likely reach a point when his behavior no longer meets the criteria for diagnosis. However, if ODD continues untreated, it can develop into CD, which is more severe.
Prognosis and Recovery
If you and your family work in conjunction with a treatment professional who emphasizes strategy and changes in your child's environment, as well as some components that help your child with problem-solving and social skills training, you could be looking at a much more peaceful life in as little as a few months. Noticeable differences may occur in a week or two if you work on one small goal at a time. It's important not to try to solve all behavior problems at once, to keep your goals behavior-specific, and to start with what's most disruptive for your family.
Alert
Treatments that don't work, and can even backfire, include scaring the child with a visit to a prison or detention facility to show him how terrible it is, physical punishment, and peer group interventions. If your child's therapist suggests any of these treatments for ODD or CD, it's probably time to find a new therapist.
Once your child's behavior has changed enough to make his life easier for him and everyone else around, you should follow your therapist's advice for when to phase out the new behavior programs. After a while, your child's new habits will start to “stick” and you can focus on enriching his life instead of playing catch-up.
Development into CD
If your child's behavior begins to worsen, or if your child has been previously diagnosed with ODD and you think a diagnosis of CD is more accurate, it's imperative to seek immediate help. In about 75 percent of cases where ODD goes untreated, it develops into CD. Like ODD, CD develops gradually, with less severe behaviors emerging first. It responds to many of the same kinds of treatment and medications that ODD responds to, but not as easily, and the toll on the family is worse because the negative and even violent behaviors can be so severe.
Children with CD are known to damage the homes they live in, have frequent run-ins with the law, and put their families in physical danger — as well as themselves. If your child ever makes a threat or allusion to suicide, please take it seriously and call 9-1-1 immediately. Studies have found that most people who commit suicide tell at least one person before they do it, and teens who contemplate suicide should not be ignored by reasoning that they're just “trying to get attention.” If the only way a kid can get the kind of attention he's after is to talk about suicide, then it's best to assume he is considering it and is crying out for help.
