Do you have a loved one who consistently exhibits irritable and angry behaviors regardless of the situation and you want to know if they have disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD)? This challenging mental health disorder mostly interrupts the lives of children and their families and limits the positive experiences and viewpoints available to the child. However, this disorder can also affect adults who may have had it during their childhood.
Montare Tucson understands how frightening and frustrating it is to struggle with a seemingly unsolvable challenge like DMDD. People want to solve these problems immediately, but help is often postponed because a proper diagnosis has not been made. Contact us if you want to have a conversation about how to help yourself or a loved one with DMDD.
Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder is a mental health disorder that causes children and adolescents to have difficulty regulating their moods. They constantly feel anger, irritability, and moodiness they cannot control. Their outbursts are often out of proportion to the circumstances that trigger them.
Young people with DMDD lash out at others without understanding how to regulate their moods or see things through a more realistic lens. This disorder causes difficulties at home, in school, and with friends. Anyone suspecting their child may have disruptive mood dysregulation disorder should speak to their child’s pediatrician to receive an assessment.
Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) has symptoms that overlap with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder. Both disorders cause a person to lash out in anger and act defiantly. While both are challenging mental illnesses, DMDD is considered a more serious condition.
Because DMDD is a relatively newly identified disorder, studies are still being done to determine things like how many people have it. It is estimated that approximately 2% to 5% of children have it
Common questions about DMDD include how to identify the symptoms and what causes a child to develop the disorder.
DMDD typically begins before a child turns 10 but can surface later. Common symptoms include:
DMDD is still a fairly new diagnosis and only recently recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Not much research has been done, which makes it difficult to understand yet what exactly causes it.
Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder can only be diagnosed by mental health experts, such as psychologists and psychiatrists who specialize in the treatment of children and adolescents. The clinician will interview the child and use specialized assessment tools to determine if they have DMDD. They will also speak to the parents and may ask to speak to siblings and others closely involved in the child’s life.
Two types of therapy help children and adolescents improve their symptoms of DMDD. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps the child draw a correlation between how they think and feel and their resulting angry behaviors. They learn healthy coping skills that lessen their stress and help them express themselves in more beneficial ways.
Derived from CBT, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) helps people who deal with intense emotions and moods they cannot control. They learn to regulate their feelings and tolerate stress in healthy ways.
Prescription medications also help ease the symptoms of DMDD. These include anti-depressants, stimulants, and atypical antipsychotic drugs.
The jury is out on whether or not a person can prevent developing DMDD.
Research so far shows that the earlier a child receives professional treatment, the more bearable the condition. The child will feel less anxiety if they struggle with this order for a short amount of time versus years.
Studies on DMDD in adults number even fewer than those done with children. Adults who have this disorder likely developed it during childhood and either received ineffective or incomplete treatment or none at all.
Do you believe you or a loved one were improperly treated for DMDD as a child and want to get quick, effective help to relieve the symptoms? Montare Tucson offers residential treatment that makes a real impact on each persons life. Our caring and compassionate staff helps you understand why you feel so angry and how to diffuse your negative emotions. With our help, you can feel more peaceful and have healthier interactions with your family, friends and colleagues.
Contact us today to find out how we can help you begin to feel more positive about your daily life. We can provide a free insurance verification to help you understand the benefits available to you.
Published: 2/12/2025
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