Treating Adult Oppositional Defiant Disorder
Do you fly off the handle more times than you care to count? Perhaps you get irritated at people easily, or you can’t stand people imposing rules on you. How about when someone slights you – do you just let it go, or does it eat at you until you feel like you’re about to explode?
If any of this sounds like you, it’s possible that you’re struggling with a behavioral condition like oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). ODD often shows up as early as 3 or 4 years old, but if it’s untreated or undiagnosed, it’s possible to only become aware of it as an adult.
Whether you were diagnosed early on, you’ve only just found out, or you’re supporting someone with ODD, you’ll know it’s a pretty rough ride. It can significantly impact a person’s relationships, work life, and feelings toward themselves. But what can you do about it?
On this page, we’ll cover what ODD in adults is, the signs to look out for, potential causes, and multiple treatment options. Rest assured, your questions will be answered!
What Is Oppositional Defiant Disorder in Adults?
Sometimes, ODD develops a little later, but the vast majority of the time the symptoms are visible before early teen years. However, childhood ODD can continue into teenage years and adulthood if it’s not diagnosed or treated, causing severe problems with relationships and in a person’s everyday life.1
An adult with oppositional defiant disorder may experience intense, frequent temper tantrums that they find virtually impossible to control, and they may become annoyed easily. Adults with ODD also often purposefully defy rules and attempt to “get back at” others.2
Oppositional Defiant Disorder Symptoms in Adults
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), a guide mental health clinicians use to diagnose mental health conditions, ODD has three main symptoms.
1. Angry Mood and Irritability1
Anger is a normal emotion that we all feel, so there’s nothing inherently wrong with it. However, with ODD, we’re not talking about typical levels of anger and irritability. Instead, ODD normally involves:
- Frequent temper outbursts
- Constant resentment toward others
- Becoming bothered by things that wouldn’t affect others
This can lead to a preoccupation with anger and irritability, meaning it takes up a lot of their headspace and time. This symptom of ODD in adults can be particularly detrimental to relationships, as it can make arguments more likely.
2. Argumentative and Defiant Behavior1
Adults with ODD often struggle with argumentative and defiant behavior, particularly towards people in power. This sign can show up in multiple ways:
- Purposely annoying other people
- Arguing with people in positions of authority
- Refusing to comply with directions and rules
- Blaming unwanted behavior on other people
- Seeking revenge against other people regularly
This typically causes extreme difficulties in multiple everyday settings, including family and work life.
3. Vindictiveness1
Vindictiveness, also known as spite, is a strong want to get back at others who have upset or harmed us. While we may all have spiteful thoughts or even act on these occasionally, adults with ODD tend to be less able to curb these impulses. As a result, they are more likely to act on these thoughts. To classify as ODD under the DSM-5, this has to be two or more times in the past 6 months.
Causes of Adult Oppositional Defiant Disorder
Oppositional defiant disorder isn’t a one-size-fits-all condition. What we mean by this is that it differs for everyone. While there are the three main signs we spoke about earlier, it doesn’t present in everyone in the exact same way. Similarly to this, the factors that increase a person’s risk of adult oppositional defiant disorder are very unique to each person.
Nevertheless, research does highlight some factors that can make a person more likely to struggle with this condition. These include:
1. Genetic Factors1
From what we know from research, about half of the reasons why a person might develop ODD could be linked to their genetics. The other half is likely to come from life experiences or environmental elements. However, we haven’t yet pinned down a specific gene or set of genes that’s linked to ODD.
2. Environmental Elements1
Certain environmental conditions significantly increase an adult’s risk of having ODD. These include:
- Family instability
- Low socioeconomic status
- Mother smoking during pregnancy
- Parents having a low education level
- Surrounding yourself with disruptive peers
- Mother struggling with perinatal depression
- Growing up with parents who engaged in criminal behavior
- History of child abuse, including physical abuse and sexual abuse
It’s important to note that these elements also increase the likelihood of other mental health conditions.
3. ODD and Other Mental Health Difficulties
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Around 40% of people with ADHD also struggle with ODD across their lifetime. These two conditions can present in similar ways, and they can often be misdiagnosed as each other. However, they are distinct conditions.2- Conduct Disorder: Approximately 50% of people with ODD also receive a diagnosis of conduct disorder. ODD and conduct disorder are both disruptive behavior disorders, so they have overlapping symptoms.1
- Anxiety & Depression: The irritability that comes with ODD is strongly linked to anxiety and depression, according to research.3
More research is needed to understand how oppositional defiant disorder relates to other conditions. For now, all we can see is that these conditions often happen alongside one another, not if one causes the other, or if they’re caused by similar triggers.
Adult Oppositional Defiant Disorder Treatments
At Mission Connection, we use a compassionate approach, tailoring each treatment method to a person’s personality, circumstances, and how their symptoms present. We work with you to understand how ODD affects your life, and you will work with a therapist to help manage your condition and limit the detrimental effects it has had in the past.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the main oppositional defiant disorder therapies. Research shows that CBT is particularly effective for treating ODD symptoms, so we employ this approach often when supporting people with ODD. CBT can correct the unhealthy thinking patterns many people with ODD struggle from, and in the process reduce the impact these have on your emotions and behaviors.4
We also offer 50+ hours of weekly group sessions to choose from. Group therapy, while it can sound scary, can give those with ODD a chance to interact with other people who are going through similar experiences. These sessions are facilitated by a licensed group therapist, ensuring the sessions are non-judgmental and educational, helping you learn fundamental skills that will allow you to manage your ODD symptoms.
We offer therapy in person and virtually, so you can get support wherever and whenever you are most comfortable.
5 Tips for Living With ODD as an Adult
It’s important to know that making healthy lifestyle changes alongside your professional treatment can be a big help in reducing your ODD symptoms and the impact these have on your life. Here are 5 tips we recommend when living with ODD as an adult:
1. Reframe Negative Thoughts6
Just like in CBT with a licensed therapist, you can learn how to reframe your negative beliefs and thinking patterns that crop up from your ODD. Reframing negative thoughts can be particularly helpful in managing the anger and irritability that come with ODD.
Let’s think of an example. Instead of thinking, “That person is trying to control me,” you could reframe it to, “They might have a different perspective, and it’s okay to disagree with them respectfully.”
If you need support with this, our trained clinicians at Mission Connection would be happy to guide you through this process. Just get in contact with us at 866-927-3460.
2. Take Steps to Eliminate Things That Cause You Stress6
Stress can only serve to worsen ODD symptoms. So, it can help to identify the people, places, and events that cause stress in your life, and either eliminate these or reduce the impact these have on your well-being.
You could do this by setting boundaries with others who cause you stress, simplifying your schedule, or making changes to your environment. While, of course, it’s impossible to eliminate all stress, we can all make changes to remove unnecessary stress from our lives.
3. Prioritize Social Connections6
We aren’t supposed to exist in a void. What we mean by this is: we are social beings, so we thrive on human connection. It therefore comes as no surprise that research shows that having a supportive social network around us can improve our health and well-being and help us regulate our difficult emotions.
So, when managing your ODD symptoms, prioritize surrounding yourself with supportive family and friends who encourage you to use healthy coping strategies.
4. Distract Yourself With Things You Love6
Experts have mixed feelings about distraction. However, just like anger, distracting yourself isn’t the issue. It’s how you distract yourself that makes all the difference. For example, if you’re using distraction as a way to suppress your feelings or escape from them, then this can be harmful. However, if you’re using distraction as a way of calming down when your anger feels red-hot and all-consuming, this can be extremely beneficial.
If distraction works well for you, try to find calming activities that you love and that bring you joy. These will help to calm your body, getting your anger back under control.
5. Practice Mindfulness6
Regularly practicing mindfulness can significantly improve your ability to regulate your emotions, allowing you to reduce the anger and frustration with ODD, or lessen the intensity of it when it arises.
Some of the best ways to incorporate mindfulness into your life are through meditation, yoga, tai chi, qi gong, or even sprinkling mindful practices like mindful eating and grounding into your daily routine.
Reach Out to Mission Connection Today
People with a diagnosis of oppositional defiant disorder often face a ton of challenges. The condition can make having healthy relationships and a stable work life feel impossible. Plus, the isolation that can come from always being frustrated by others can take a toll on a person’s mental health.
But know this: if you’re navigating the world with ODD, you’re by no means alone. At Mission Connection, we have developed our services to suit each person who seeks support from us exactly. You’ll work with a licensed, experienced therapist that you get along with, who doesn’t judge you and who offers you the best care grounded in scientific backing.
You can choose between online or in-person therapy sessions, meaning your healthcare will fit your life, and not the other way around. So, you can start to feel more in control of your life on your own terms.
What’s more, life has gotten difficult and you feel you need extra scaffolding to support you, we also offer intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization programs. These treatment programs will allow you to connect with your clinical team when, where, and how it’s most convenient.
Get support today, so you can learn tools to manage your ODD symptoms and take back control of your life.
References
- Burke, J. D., & Romano-Verthelyi, A. M. (2018). Oppositional defiant disorder. In Developmental pathways to disruptive, impulse-control and conduct disorders (pp. 21–52). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-811323-3.00002-X
- Cleveland Clinic. (2025, January 24). Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9905-oppositional-defiant-disorder
- Aggarwal, A., & Marwaha, R. (2024, October 29). Oppositional Defiant Disorder. In StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557443/
- Battagliese, G., Caccetta, M., Luppino, O. I., Baglioni, C., Cardi, V., Mancini, F., & Buonanno, C. (2015). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for externalizing disorders: A meta-analysis of treatment effectiveness. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 75, 60–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2015.10.008
- Riley, M., Ahmed, S., & Locke, A. (2016). Common questions about oppositional defiant disorder. American Family Physician, 93(7), 586–591. Retrieved from https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2016/0401/p586.html
- Trudel-Fitzgerald, C., Boucher, G., Morin, C., Mondragon, P., Guimond, A.-J., Nishimi, K., Choi, K. W., & Denckla, C. (2024). Coping and emotion regulation: A conceptual and measurement scoping review.Canadian Psychology / Psychologie canadienne, 65(3), 149–162. https://doi.org/10.1037/cap0000377
