what disorder would this be?

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hey guys my friend i go to school with is doing a project for school she is a psych major and she was having some issues trying to decide what disorder this case would be and she asked me about it yesterday but i wasnt sure .

A 12 year old child who is very defiant, hyper, mood difficulties, frustrated easily, temper outbursts,impulsive,impatient,always wants to sleep, aggressive, triggered by loud noises or other kids, requires many prompts, and gets mad and upset about them. Yells, screams, and curses. Gets agitated upon not getting his own way, extreme mood lability; his moods rapidly alternate between happiness, sadness and anger which are accompanied by an exaggerated intense expression of these emotions(screaming,yelling,cursing, crying, punching,kicking,breaking objects,leaving class) gets nervous easily, cries over little things, sleeps and wakes up hungry,poor self esteem,and had suicidal ideations at the age of 4.

i was wondering if anyone had any idea what this would be since she doesnt know and wont know until she gets her grade back thursday. (this isnt for me or for her homework her project is already handed in for grading Im just wondering since she asked me about it yesterday)

thanks everyone

Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

ODD? Bipolar?

Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Childhood onset bipolar.

Google conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder.

Specializes in Neuro ICU and Med Surg.

Oppositional Defiant Disorder with some bipolar mixed in.

Specializes in ED.

Yep, ODD with Bipolar disorder. Sounds like my step-brother.

kid needs a full medical work up. and I am thinking there may be some PTSD thrown in there.

Sounds like my kid .... Who the teachers/docs say is fine. Anyways....

Specializes in Acute Care Cardiac, Education, Prof Practice.

As a parent I am learning more and more about emotional control and how we play into that. I am hard pressed to slap a label on this child until I knew about his upbringing.

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/26/garden/parent-child-study-finds-benefits-in-emotional-control.html

http://www.education.umd.edu/EDHD/faculty/Fox/publications/31.pdf

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/liking-the-child-you-love/201108/parents-stay-aware-defiant-children-lack-emotional-maturity-0

Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

had a neighbor whose child acted that way till they learned he was hard of hearing. Once he got hearing aids things improved. Till then he suffered from people hitting him or yelling to get a reaction from him as they thought he was not paying attention. So he learned to act violently. Really disturbing

Schizophrenia

Umm, why is she asking you and not going to her faculty for assistance? If she is studying psych as an undergraduate she isn't responsible for diagnosing anyway. If this is a hypothetical, she can do an "if this, then that" sort of paper. If it's a real child, then she needs to ask caregivers, treating team members, and others...not some random other undergrad.

As you can see by the range of responses here from people with experience, there's a lot more to be learned.

Schizophrenia

It's possible, but agitation is the only real symptom that would suggest childhood onset schizophrenia based on the list of symptoms here: Childhood schizophrenia: Symptoms - MayoClinic.com. Extreme anger and mood lability seem to characterize this child's behavior, not the hallucinations, developmental delays and illogical thought processes that define schizophrenia.

ODD, PTSD and Bipolar Disorder make more sense.

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