Holiday Mental Health—Part III: More Hidden Disorders

We’ve all heard about anxiety, depression, and even bipolar disorder, but not many have heard about executive dysfunction or oppositional defiant disorder.  Although not well-known, these two mental health disorders can significantly affect the dynamics of holiday gatherings.

Executive function skills enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and multi-task.  Therefore, individuals with executive dysfunction struggle with planning, problem-solving, organization, and time management.

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is an extreme behavior disorder defined by chronic aggression, frequent outbursts, defiance, and a tendency to irritate others.

Do either of these sound like someone you know?  If so, and said individuals will be co-mingling and existing with you during the holidays, holiday gatherings can potentially be more challenging than fun or relaxing.

To complicate matters even further, each of these conditions often co-exist in people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) discussed in last week’s blog post.  While most people with ADHD will experience many areas of executive dysfunction, people can have executive dysfunction without ADHD.  Experts cannot definitively say why ODD and ADHD commonly overlap.

Although the link between the disorders may not be fully understood, executive dysfunction and ODD have a strong genetic component.  About half of children diagnosed with ODD continue to experience symptoms of ODD through adulthood.

Of note, people can demonstrate characteristics of ADHD, ODD, and/or executive dysfunction while not qualifying for diagnosis of any one of these disorders.  This might be most challenging for those dealing with these individuals as acknowledgement of the characteristics isn’t likely nor are steps towards treatment.

Treatment options do exist though for both executive dysfunction and ODD and understanding the ins and outs of each of these disorders is an important first step to finding treatment.

For those on the outside looking in, understanding each of these less common mental health disorders can help provide an explanation for the behavior of some individuals who might be demonstrating symptoms of these disorders.

Hopefully an understanding of the executive dysfunction and ODD behavior can help make coping with those individuals demonstrating that behavior a little less challenging during the holidays.