Adult possibly with ODD, no information on this.

Help! I am looking for ODD information for adults, but all I can find is children. I need to know how to handle my brother-in-law who had a very bad stroke years ago. He has a lot of deficits and is totally disabled, and one of those problems is, I believe, oppositional defiant disorder. He will deliberately not do something that is asked of him, resist all attempts to get him to do that one thing, etc. I think part of it is that he feels overwhelmed and doesn't know how to handle it, but he will not accept any kind of help. He will get very defensive and get verbally abusive no matter how we try to handle it. He is also rather passive-aggressive and does some weird things deliberately to "get back" at either me or my sister. We all live together in the same house.

This is becoming a safety issue. He has jury-rigged all kinds of space heaters in the house with extension cords which is hugely dangerous, but he refuses to heat the house any other way. One of these contraptions melted the cords, but now he's refusing to address the issue and there is no heat. I'm really at my wits' end. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

If I'm not mistaken, Oppositional Defiant Disorder is only diagnosed in children who present with symptoms of the disorder. You mention that your BIL had a bad stroke. A stroke can affect areas of the brain that alter personality. Depending on which side of the brain is affected by the stroke, such a person can display impulsiveness, self-defensiveness, angry outbursts, rigid thinking, timidity, or other behavior when his personality prior to the stroke did not display such behavior. Does your BIL have a doctor with whom you can express your concerns about him and his behavior?

As for the space heaters, take the extension cords out of the house and put the heaters in safe zones in which no one, including BIL, can move the heaters' positions, such as affixing them to the floor or a wall shelf near an accessible outlet? That way nobody can just move the heaters as he pleases.