Behavioural Disorder among children

Behavioural disorder are the disorders that are harmful and dangerous for you and the people around you. Children generally argue, are aggressive or act angry along with defiant in adults. When these behaviours are uncommon and pervasive and persistent with the age of the children, they are more prone to develop the disorder. 

Behaviour Disorders may involve: 

  • Impulsivity 
  • Delinquency 
  • Defiant Behaviour 
children behavioural disorder

Following are the disorders that fall under the category of Behavioural Disorder: 

  • Oppositional Defiant Disorder 
  • Conduct Disorder 
  • Pyromania 
  • Kleptomania 

The symptoms of the Oppositional Defiant Disorder according to DSM-5 are as follows: 

The person is in an angry mood, has defiant behaviour and irritability. The symptoms should be present for more than 6 months. The person is generally angry, is short tempered and is resentful. The person argues with authority figures and actively defies or disagrees with the requests and deliberately annoys others. He/ She blames others for his/her mistakes or behaviours and is vindictive. The person isn’t able to function efficiently and has problems with his/her social and personal environment. The behaviour is not a result of psychosis, substance use or depressive disorder. 

ODD can act as a comorbid symptom to following disorders: 

  1. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder 
  2. Depressive and Bipolar Disorders 
  3. Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder 
  4. Intellectual Disability 
  5. Language Disorder 
  6. Social Anxiety Disorder.

The symptoms of the Conduct Disorder according to DSM-5 are as follows: 

The person violates the societal norms and the basic rights of others. The presence of the symptoms should at least one or twice in the last 12 months. The person often bullies/ threatens others and initiates physical fights. Using bat, brick or any object that can harm the other person. The person is generally cruel to humans and people and have a record of stealing etc. The person has deliberately set fire to harm others and destroyed others property. The person has broken into someone’s else house and lies to obtain goods. The person has a history of stealing items and performing acts that harm others. Often stays out at night without parental agreements. This marks at the age of 13 years. Has a history of running away from home at least twice. The disturbance is clinically significant in the regions of social, academic or occupational domains.

The Conduct disorder can act as a comorbid symptom to the following disorders: 

  1. Oppositional Defiant Disorder 
  2. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder 
  3. Depressive and Bipolar Disorder 
  4. Adjustment Disorder

The symptoms of Pyromania according to DSM-5 are as follows: 

Deliberate and purposeful setting of fire more than one occasion. The person is aroused before performing the act. The person feels pleasure or gratification after setting fire. The fire is generally set not because of monetary gain, socio-political ideology or to express anger or as a result of impaired judgment or even a result of hallucination. Conduct disorder, a manic episode, or an antisocial personality are not better explanations for the starting of the fire. 

The Pyromania can act as a comorbid symptom to the following disorders: 

  1. Substance Use Disorders 
  2. Gambling Disorders 
  3. Impulse Control Disorder 
  4. Conduct Disorder 

The symptoms of Kleptomania according to DSM-5 are as follows: 

The person is not able to resist impulses for stealing objects that are not needed for personal use or even for their monetary value. The person has an increasing sense of tension immediately before committing the theft. The act of committing the theft is motivated by feelings of pleasure or satisfaction. The stealing shouldn’t be a result of delusion or hallucination and shouldn’t be committed to express anger or vengeance. The stealing is not better explained by conduct disorder, a mania episode or anti-social personality disorder. 

The Kleptomania can act as a comorbid symptom to the following disorders: 

  1. Malingering 
  2. Anti-social Personality Disorder 
  3. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder 
  4. Substance Use Disorders 
  5. Personality Disorders 

Risk factors of Behavioural Disorder are follows: 

Genetic: First degree relatives of the individual with kleptomania have a higher chance of developing the disorder. 

Culture: Certain cultures see non-normative behaviour normal so they should be taken under consideration. The presence of disorder in children and adolescents is common across various cultures. 

Gender: Pyromania generally develops more often in males. Males are generally diagnosed with Conduct Disorders.

Physiological: Higher rate of substance use disorders can cause kleptomania. 

Treatment of individuals suffering from Behavioural Disorder: 

  1. Psychotherapies: 
  1. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: The intrusive thoughts and the pleasure seeking behaviour and cognitions can be reduced and controlled. 
  2. Social Training: The child is taught to improve social communication and respecting the rights of others and reducing the delinquent behaviour 
  3. Anger Management: The child is taught to control the tics which cause him to be infuriated and giving a range of coping skills defused into their anger and aggressive behaviour. 
  4. Meditation: Meditation can help reduce the symptoms of kleptomania and pyromania. 
  5. Medications: 

Anti-psychotics and anti-depressants can help reduced the ODD symptoms and conduct disorder symptoms. Anti-Depressants can also be tackled with the same. 

Controlling the symptoms of behavioural disorder:

Positive Parenting Strategies can be helpful in reducing or controlling the symptoms. Discipline and helping the child what to do and how to do a particular task. This helps them regard authority and see the organised way of working. Communicating with the child is an important aspect as this helps the parent to understand the mental aspect of the child. 

Child maltreatment prevention: Techniques and need to reduce delinquency is an important aspect of controlling the symptoms. The symptoms of violence and misconduct can be reduced by giving positive reinforcement and using punishment as a reinforcing agent. 

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