Disorders galore

If your kids are like mine they have had many diagnosis' over the year. ODD, ADHD, depression, anxiety, bipolar, intermittent explosive disorder, and then RAD. The symptoms of many of these disorders are so similar so over lapping. For example ODD. (Oppositional Defiant Disorder) according to the American Academy of Pediatrics:


frequent temper tantrums
excessive arguing with adults
active defiance and refusal to comply with adult requests and rules
deliberate attempts to annoy or upset people
blaming others for his or her mistakes or misbehavior
often being touchy or easily annoyed by others
frequent anger and resentment
mean and hateful talking when upset
seeking revenge

Do any of these sound like your child? If they have RAD it does. So how to get a correct diagnosis is so tricky. I believe our neuropsych evaluation was very helpful. We began treating the RAD first. Many of our youngest child's symptoms lessened or disappeared after he advanced in his treatment. He had almost all of the above diagnosis at one time or another. I believe RAD is his only diagnosis now. Our other son did not respond well to treatment for RAD. I believe this is because there are other problems. We have been adjusting some medication based on the neuropsych evaluation. He is receiving OT for his sensory issues. We will see how these to treatments change how we work with him on his RAD. It is hard to attach to someone if it hurts when they touch you - tactile defensiveness. It is hard to feel safe or attach if you have anxiety or depression. We did take our boys off all medication last summer when we were beginning attachment therapy in order to see the "real" them and also because we wanted them to really feel their feelings. It was very difficult. Our youngest has gone from being on 4 medications to 1. Our older was on 4 and is currently on 2, but he is still a work on progress. I guess my point here is 1) Professional help is needed to sort through the complications of emotional/mental health 2) RAD was the place to start for us. When it was better with our youngest the other disorders were no longer such an issue 3) If your child isn't responding look for other conditions. Oh yes and "Never, never, never, quit." Winston Churchill.