Douglas Riley, Ph.D., a child psychologist and an author of The Rebel Child: A Parent's Guide to Oppositional Defiant Disorder, states: "These children are most comfortable in conflict, once you start arguing with them and you're on their turf. The child keeps throwing the bait and the parents keep taking it, until finally the parent takes the child to family therapy wondering what's wrong with him ."

 

The stress of dealing with a rebellious child affects the entire family, especially the marital relationship! In part, that's because friends and relatives tend to blame the behavior on "the poor parenting style and methods of the child's parents." Disciplinary strategies that work well for ordinary children simply do not work in children with oppositional defiant disorder. Therefore, parents and caregivers who are troubled by this aspect need to understand the reasons behind it, so that they can respond to their children's performance of opposition and defiance in a targeted manner.

 

No one knows why so many kids with ADHD consistently exhibit opposing behaviors. However, in many cases, oppositional behavior can be understood as a manifestation of impulsivity. Dr. Carol Brady, a child psychologist in Houston, said: "Many children diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder are not actually rebellious on purpose. They misbehave, not because they intentionally rebel, but because they can't control impulses."

 

There is also a view that retrograde behavior is just a way for children to cope with the frustration and emotional pain associated with ADHD.

"When a child is under stress, whether it's because of the distracting trait or a dramatic change in the home or life-learning environment, a certain percentage of children turn their anxiety to the outside world." Psychiatrist at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. Larry Silver, MD, said, "Everything that happens negatively around you seems to be someone else's fault, and children are subjectively unwilling and not taking responsibility for anything that goes wrong."

 

Children with ADHD know at an early age that they are different from other children, and despite above-average intelligence, they think they will get in more trouble. In many cases, the academic difficulties will be more severe. The children will defend themselves, and will tell themselves in a self-protective manner that they are not stupid or useless, instead this is very cool! In this process of constant self-preservation and numbness, they involuntarily honed their stubborn opposition to outside standards.

 

About half of all preschoolers diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder can begin to gradually get rid of the problem by age 8. But older children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder are less likely to get rid of it automatically as they grow up. If not taken seriously, hostile behavior can evolve into behavioral and psychological disorders, which is a much more serious problem! It is characterized by physical violence, theft, running away from home, arson and other highly destructive bad behavior.