Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder is a condition where children or adolescents experience temper outbursts, continuous irritability, and mood disruption. The condition influences patient’s effectiveness in the social sphere; hence, they might not be able to interact with their peers or complete school effectively. In some cases, comorbid mood disorders might be displayed by the person. One of the risk factors is uncontrollable anger in children at an early age, especially in children with difficulties adapting to change. Others are suspected to be genetics, temperament-related dynamics, and unpleasant childhood experiences.
One of the symptoms displayed by an individual with Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder is frequent, uncontrollable temper outbursts. Certainty in diagnosis is likely when the temper outbursts are experienced approximately at least three days per week for more than a year. The temper could be behavioral or verbal. The child or adolescent might also be moody most days and highly irritable ( Grau et al., 2017). This behavior derails them from normally functioning in different spaces, for example, in school, at home, or when engaging with peers.
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Although there is no specific medication approved by the FDA and set aside to treat DMDD, certain medications used to manage mood some behavioral disorders can be prescribed. Different types of stimulants are used to calm irritability, antidepressants are used to treat mood-related symptoms, and atypical antipsychotic medications can be used to manage anger outbursts and irritability. Due to undesirable side effects, antipsychotics are used when the different management strategies have failed. Nonpharmacological treatments mainly entail different types of therapy. One of the notable ones is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)( Ramires et al., 2017). CBT is instrumental in controlling anger, anxiety, and depressive thoughts, all of which are common in children with DMDD. Other management approaches include dialectical behavior therapy in combination with parental training. This entails responding to outbursts in a way that does not reinforce negative behavior. Although not common, computer-based training is a new approach being used to help children in the processing of facial expressions, hence, management of their anger.
Residential treatment centers and schools are important resources that parents with children affected by DMDD can leverage. While medication and psychotherapy are commonly used to manage the disorder in such centers, it is imperative to know that the professionals in such centers are instrumental in understanding the dynamics that influence the management of the condition in different individuals. Another resource is community mental health clinics ( Freeman et al. 2016) . These are institutions that are specialized in dealing with such issues; hence, they are in a better position to provide information and the necessary type of information in the case that the parent or guardian consents to treatment. It is also worth noting that social workers are a resource that can be of indirect help to such children because, in some cases, they become the first point of contact when social issues arise in different households. Since they are well versed with community resources that can benefit such individuals, they are likely to provide the necessary information when necessary.
References
Freeman, A. J., Youngstrom, E. A., Youngstrom, J. K., & Findling, R. L. (2016). Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder in a community mental health clinic: prevalence, comorbidity and correlates. Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology , 26 (2), 123-130.
Grau, K., Plener, P. L., Hohmann, S., Fegert, J. M., Brähler, E., & Straub, J. (2017). Prevalence rate and course of symptoms of disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD). Zeitschrift für Kinder-und Jugendpsychiatrie und Psychotherapie .
Ramires, V. R. R., Godinho, L. B. R., & Goodman, G. (2017). The therapeutic process of a child diagnosed with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder. Psychoanalytic Psychology , 34 (4), 488.
