Conduct Disorder | Parenting Teens Blog

June 2, 2010

Teen Conduct Disorder

Teen conduct disorder is unfortunately a reality, and a sad one. Conduct disorder usually includes aggressive behavior against humans, property or animals that is considered to be destructive, deceitful, dishonest and violent. So anything from causing people injuries, stealing and even rape is considered to be conduct disorder. But there is one difference that separates conduct disorder from other similar acts of violence, it is a repetitive process. We are not talking about an isolated incident here; we are talking about a need to do these things over and over again with a pattern.

The person that suffers from a conduct disorder is unable to realize the good from the bad at one point and prevention is impossible, but noticing the signs at an early stage may minimize the distress of the child and the family. Such a person has a repetitive behavior in which he or she violates the rights of others, laws, and society values. If that type of behavior repeats for more than a year with at list three of the symptoms listed bellow than it’s time to act.

•    Aggressive behavior
    Threatening and bullying
    Fighting
    Using weapons
    Physical cruelty to people
    Physical cruelty to animals
    Forcing a sexual activity
•    Destructive behavior
    Intentional damaging and destroying of other’s property
    Starting fires on purpose in order to damage someone’s property
•    Deceitful behavior
    Stealing
    Lying
    Shoplifting
    Breaking into homes
    Car jacking
•    Violation of rules
    Disobeying rules of parents before the age of 13
    Running away from home
    Running from school
    Disobeying rules and laws of society

There are numerous reasons that cause teen conduct disorder; they may be biological, like certain injuries to the brain or genetics, like history of mental illness in the family, but that is not necessarily true. Teen conduct disorder may develop in an unhealthy environment like dysfunctional family or child abuse and traumatic experience; also social aspects contribute to all these factors.

Unfortunately there are currently only two ways by which teen conduct disorder is treated, psychotherapy and medication. For milder cases psychotherapy is used, it is a form of counseling by which the teen is learned how to control and express his anger through some more appropriate ways. On the other hand medication is a bit tricky, since there is no drug that treats conduct disorder specifically various drugs may be used to treat different symptoms.

The best form of treatment can be done if the symptoms of conduct disorder are caught early, then with psychotherapy success is something real and can be expected, while in cases where conduct disorder is not caught early while it’s developing, treatment is almost impossible.

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December 6, 2007

ADD/ADHD: Know the Facts from the Myths

Filed under: Teen Health — Tags: ADD, ADHD, Anxiety disorders, childhood, conduct disorder, myths about ADHD/ADD, Stimulants — admin @ 3:24 pm

To arm yourself with the weapon ready to combat Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), you must know the facts about them.

Myth No. 1: Only kids who are hyper have ADHD.
FACT: It is possible for a child to be suffering from the disorder without being hyperactive. ADHD actually has three subtypes: predominantly inattentive subtype, predominantly hyperactive-impulsive subtype and combined subtype. Most children who fit into only the first subtype may be suffering from ADHD without showing signs of hyperactivity.

Myth No. 2: Children can naturally outgrow ADHD.
FACT: If left untreated, ADHD continues into adulthood. However, by developing their strengths, structuring their environments, and using medication when needed, children with ADHD can grow up to be adults leading very productive lives.

Myth No. 3: Children on ADHD medications are more likely to take drugs when they become teenagers.
FACT: While it’s true that people with ADHD are naturally impulsive and more likely to take risks, those patients taking stimulants for this disorder are actually at lower risk of using other drugs. Children and teenagers who have ADHD and also have coexisting conditions may be at high risk for drug and alcohol abuse, regardless of the medication used.

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Get in the Know: Teen ADD/ADHD Statistics

Filed under: Teen Health — Tags: ADD, ADHD, childhood, conduct disorder, statistics of teen ADD and ADHD — admin @ 1:53 pm

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) are common disorders afflicting teenagers nowadays. If you are still in doubt, here are the numbers to prove it:

3 to 5 %, or about 2 million, of American teens suffer from ADHD or ADD.

7% of parents will have a teen with ADD or ADHD.

In an average class in school, at least one teen is likely to have ADD or ADHD.
Up to 50 percent of teens with ADHD or ADD may never be diagnosed, especially among those without health insurance.

ADHD is most common in childhood, with about 30 to 60 percent of patients continuing to be affected into adulthood.

About 80 percent of children who need medication for ADHD still need it as teenagers, and about 50 percent need it as adults.
Teen ADD and ADHD are 2 to 3 times more common among boys than girls.

Non-hispanic white teens are about twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADD or ADHD (8 percent) than Hispanic (4 percent) or African-American (5 percent) teens.

14 percent of white teens living below the poverty level have been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD.
Among teens who suffer from ADHD or ADD, 30 to 40 percent have another close relative who also has ADD or ADHD, suggesting a genetic component of ADHD and ADD.

15 to 20 percent of teens with ADD and DHD have specific learning disability, which affects a teen’s ability to understand or use language effectively.

20 to 40 percent of teens with ADHD or ADD also develop conduct disorder, which often leads the teen to steal, lie, bully, disrespect the rights of others, or act aggressively toward people and animals.

In their first few years of driving, teens with ADHD or ADD are four times more likely to get into automobile accidents, are three times more likely to get speeding tickets, and are more likely to be in accidents that cause bodily injury.

Because 18 percent of deaths due to speed-related accidents are teenagers, these are important numbers to consider for parents when deciding rules for ADHD or ADD teens who want to drive.

Stimulants are an effective treatment for 70 to 80 percent of ADHD and ADD sufferers, and non stimulants (Strattera) are effective for about 70 percent.

Resource.

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