Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
You are allowed to be touchy when you are an adult - it is then called assertiveness. You are allowed to get pissed off when you are above the crucial (though utterly arbitrary) age limit. Then it is called "expressing your emotions", which is by and large a good thing.
So tell us the charlatans that call themselves mental health 'professionals' (as though psychology is an exact science, not merely an elaborate literary exercise).
The DSM, this manual of the Potemkin science known as clinical psychology, continues to enlighten us:
If you are habitually angry and resentful, spiteful or vindictive and these traits impair your "normal" social, academic, or occupational functioning (whatever "normal" means in today's pluralistic and anomic culture), beware: you may be harbouring Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). It is not clear what the DSM means by 'occupational' when Oppositional Defiant Disorder typically applies to primary school age children. Perhaps we will find out in the DSM V."
The behaviors must occur more frequently than is typically observed in individuals of comparable age and developmental level." - the DSM helpfully elaborates. If the child is psychotic or suffers from a mood disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder should not be diagnosed.
Why am I bothering you with this tripe? Because the DSM is ominously clear:
"The diagnosis is not made if ... criteria are met for Conduct Disorder or Antisocial Personality Disorder (in an individual above the age of 18)." Get this straight: if you are above the age of 18 and you are stubborn, resistant to directions, "unwilling to compromise, give in, or negotiate with adults and peers", ignore orders, argue, fail to accept blame for misdeeds, and deliberately annoy others - you stand a good chance of being "diagnosed" as a psychopath.
Let us hope that the "scholars" of the DSM V Committee have the good sense to remove this blatant tool of social control from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. But don't count on it and don't argue with them if they don't. They may diagnose you with something.
Read The Myth of Mental Illness
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Related Tags: disorder, odd, oppositional, defiant
Sam Vaknin ( http://samvak.tripod.com ) is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He served as a columnist for Central Europe Review, Global Politician, PopMatters, eBookWeb , and Bellaonline, and as a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business Correspondent. He was the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory and Suite101. Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles
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