Adult with ODD

Post Reply New Topic

I am confident that I have ODD. I dont have a diagnosis, but I will get to that.

It started about as young as I can remember but got worse in school. I always had detention in grade 2, which was the first year I had homework. This was also when i began a life long ritual of not doing homework. When they forced me to, I couldnt bring myself to pick up a pen and write anything. When aked why, I could only decribe it as "i just cant". No one understood.

I was diagnosed with ADD, which I did not have. I read for hours and have no trouble sitting still. I was put on Ritilin anyways until my mother recognized I did not have ADD. That was fine, I hated those pills and rarely took them. They drugged me too much, and quite simply no one told me why I had to take them.

So I got into a lot of problems, and my mothet had a hell of a time punishing me. She took away the tv, so I read. I was unphased to everything. She found a punishment and I adapted. That was it, I was unpunishable. Because of this, i made games out of dancing on the proverbial line and seeing how close I could get before crossing it.

Labled as a problem child, I attended Alternate Education for grades 8-12. They really got me there and helped me a lot. I was rarely told to do anything, it was always a request. Dont ask me why, but it helps. It was just one of the many ways they adapted for me.

My teachers at my highschool told me I should ask a doctor about ODD, but I never did. I didnt know anything was wrong, I just had a self justified "why should I?" attitude, i felt normal. Everyone else was unreasonable.

So then I graduated and life got hard. I tried a community college but they started telling me I wasnt going fast enough at my school work, I dropped out citing problems with money, living arrangements, an ex girlfriend. Basically everyones problem but mine. Great, I am still paying the student loan.

I have had a lot of jobs, but they lasted for about a month at a time. I always end up with a dick supervisor or boss and it becomes unbarable. No one understood. One time I was in a job interview with two interviewees. In my defence, its not fair to gang up in an interview. Anyways he was asking repetive questions about why I left school and I couldnt retrain myself from snapping at him. That cost me a cushy job.

So basically my life is peppered with stories as I cope. I never know it at the time, but its easier to look back. I mostly find myself getting into trouble and it seems normal. If I feel wronged, the first thing I do is plan how to get even because I just cant let them get away with it. I know its wrong, but it feels like thats just what people do.

I find my relationship gets strained. My girlfriend, while understanding, calls me childish. When she argues a point, I always have an argument to challenge it. I play off technicalities and such. Plus even when I know something is my fault, I always come armed with an arsenal of reasons why it wasnt my fault. But no matter howvmucy I recognize my behavior, I never see it at the time and no one gets that.

So, I avoid seeing a doctor. I have finally found a good job as a security worker. I work alone and no one jumps up my ass about every little thing. In British Columbia, security licences can be strict. If I recieve a diagnosis, I may lose my license and my job. Plus, I read the treatment to be Ritilin or other medication. I don't want drugs. You cant teach me cocain is bad all my life then hand me what isnt so different and expect me to take it. Besides, how do you go to a doctor with this? All my life I have been treated as if I just need to shape up and I'll be fine. Why would this be any different? If it were so easy, trust me, I would have done it by now.

Another thing holding me back is that I read people with ODD usually have something else to accompany it. I do not. I also dont want to be tested forever for every little disorder that I dont have.

Anyways, sorry that was so long. Im not used to openly talking about it so I just started typing with the thought that Id see what comes of it.

If there is anyone else who deals with ODD or possibly has some non-medication coping strategies, Id love to hear from you.

Last edited by slashsigh on 05 Aug 2011, 4:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Don't post here any more.

I was referred here as a place to speak openly and get helpful feedback. But i can tell how this is gonna go. f**k you and everyone else who uses this site.

It was meant to be a joke (re: the condition itself - oppositional defiance). I'm sorry you didn't get it.

That was funny. Just your typical autistic train wreck. "What do you mean I offended you - how?"

Been there, done that.

I was trying to figure out what ODD was, or if that was intended to be a joke in itself, ridiculing autistic people as being 'odd'. I'd forgotten about Oppositional Defiant, which is part of my own AS diagnosis.

I told myself it would be best to leave and not look back in, but I knew I had to look. Could never pass up an argument. Just another case of making an ass of myself I guess.

What is AS? I am not so sure of the whole disorder lingo yet.

Wow. The whole time my eyes read OCD, brain sees what it wants to. I was being very confused, did not get the ODD until the comments.

Hmm, well either way. I don't have ODD, but I can be quite stubborn at times about doing the exact opposite to what people suggest, just to prove them wrong. (Especially when they talk of limitations, constraints, etc.)

Maybe you could figure out a good way to focus all this stubbornness and strong resolve into something that can be beneficial. Prove your boss wrong and great at your job, or challenge yourself against peoples expectations. I am not sure it really works this way, but you could give it a try. Why not? Have you tried therapy?

Officially, anyways, ODD isn't recognised in adults - it's seen as a paediatric thing. You might find yourself being referred on for treatment with a personality disorder, if your behaviour is disruptive to your life. It's something that you should discuss with a doctor or mental health professional. If you have a personality disorder, the mainstay of treatment is therapy [sometimes lots of therapy] and not drugs, unless you have something co-morbid happening like a mood disorder or anxiety.

I beg to differ - I was diagnosed at 49, and Oppositional Defiant is part of the same diagnosis that I received after being tested for Asperger Syndrome.

I have just as many issues with authority now as I ever did as a kid.

I think its nearly impossible not to become defiant when you spend your life trying to explain to people that you CAN'T do everything they demand of you, and they refuse to believe you.

If I had been diagnosed as a kid it would have been AS and ODD. It's got me into no end of trouble with people over the years. There are dead relationships scattered behind me. Oh well. Now, I am old, but I still have to deal with it. I defy the world as much as I can by slipping in between the issues that most normal people engage themselves with - and yes, I am seen as weird.
1. I have to avoid people and places that make me really angry. 2. I work out pretty hard; either running or jump rope - this is incredibly calming when finished, 3. I built a barrier around myself and don't let anybody "in" (except loved ones), 4. read.

I find that interesting. I don't doubt that adults can have aspects of oppositional defiance, but my impression of ODD [the dx] is that it is given primarily to children, and that if it persists, it can carry on into Conduct Disorder or into a personality disorder.

I had a read through the ICD-10 and that seems to imply something similar, although it didn't explicitly state that it was child-only, so maybe that's where the difference is from?

I do believe adults can have it too. The DSM is wrong. Not everyone outgrows it by the time they are 18 and I've read it can lead to conduct disorder.

I think I have ODD as well.

I beg to differ - I was diagnosed at 49, and Oppositional Defiant is part of the same diagnosis that I received after being tested for Asperger Syndrome.

I have just as many issues with authority now as I ever did as a kid.

[i]I would tend to agree with this quote. I, too, am an adult (32) who struggles with doing and saying the exact opposite of what is expected and defying authority because I get a rise out of it. They've never officially pinned this label on me, however, I'm certain the shoe fits.