Do they grow out of it?

I have a daughter who has always been "difficult" & "stubborn"
At times, openly resentful, with a lot of hurt & anger. It's like she was born that way. Never doing what she's told & rebelling against every form of "authority figure" in her life.

I read the diagnostic criteria for this disorder & it fits her to a tee. She's 18 yrs old now & it's getting worse.
I suffer from both Asperger's Disorder & Depression, so the situation is virtually impossible to manage.

She blames others for all her shortcomings & is openly defiant. She is an emo & releases some of her pain through minimal self injury, although she will NOT seek therapy or assistance.
I thought, like asthma, she would simply "grow out of it"
I worry that she will have a criminal record, although apart from the constant verbal abuse, openly flaunting her sexuality & petty offences, there's been no record YET.

I wonder, what can be done & how other parents cope. Thanks.

ODD is hard but the good news is about 2/3 of the time in adulthood most of the behavioral symptoms will disapear in 1/3 of these it may turn into something more mild such as depression or attention difficulties and in the other lucky third the person will have no symptoms at all. You said that she's been self-injuring and that you have depression, sometimes depressed people will externalize their sadness into anger & blame at everybody & anybody they see, do you think your daughter may be doing this?
There is a lot that can be done but it's hard to get help for someone who doesn't want it. There are support groups run through organizations such as the National Allience for the Mentally Ill www.nami.org or the Depression and Bipolar Allience www.dbsa.org that offer services to family members. Would she be willing to joing a group like this? Certain herbs can also help if she has difficulties with impulstivity or attention such as ginsing, ginko, or omega 3s. Would she be willing to take them?

If you'd like to talk or have any questions I'd more than love to speak with you urgodandiamnot@hotmail.com
~Jennifer

my daughter had this - now is 24 and has hpd - very difficult get her lots of help -this so much worse

I was ODD as a kid up until about 25.

I gradually grew out of it but am now schizoid/dysthymic.

ODD is usually premorbid to something or other but it seems pot luck as to what.


xx