What is Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)?

Children are more prone to disruptive mood dysregulation disorder. Therefore, seeking a proper mood disorder diagnosis and proper clinical attention for your child as early as possible is essential. Your psychiatrist will use DSM-5-approved DMDD diagnostic criteria to help diagnose your child with DMDD, along with helping to create a treatment plan.

Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder is a childhood condition characterized by extreme irritability, anger, and frequent, violent outbursts of temper. If your child has DMDD, you may have realized that they have a severe impairment that necessitates clinical intervention. Disruptive mood dysregulation disorders, including bipolar 1 and bipolar 2, are difficult to diagnose and treat in school-age children. Those with DMDD also will present with higher rates of depression and anxiety.¹

How Common is Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder?

In a study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), findings show that:²

0.5% of the study population exhibited elevated DMDD symptoms during adulthood
0.79% of the study population reported having experienced elevated DMDD symptoms when they were of school-going age
86.3% of children with DMDD also had symptoms that met DSM-5 criteria for lifetime ADHD
58.2% had symptoms of a lifetime co-occurring anxiety disorder

DMDD, while generally more common and severe in childhood, can also affect your life into adulthood in a myriad of ways, as proved by the study. Those who exhibited DMDD symptoms during adulthood were more likely to be single or divorced as well.³

Symptoms of Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder

DMDD symptoms can range from mild to severe. They can also last for long periods of time if you do not seek early intervention for your school-age child or adolescent. Some of the most common symptoms include:

Severe, recurrent temper tantrums
Frequent outbursts, often happening more than three times a week
Unwarranted tantrums that don't equate to the situation
Tantrums that don't correlate with your child's age and maturity
Irritable and angry moods alternating with tantrums
Multiple symptoms that happen in multiple settings

Risk Factors for Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder

Certain risk factors for DMDD are more common than others, but there is no single factor that points to an individual developing the disorder. It has been observed among children who visit pediatric mental health treatment facilities in many cases, and research is underway to determine how brain mechanisms co-relate to other disruptive disorders with a bias to DMDD, one of which is called explosive mood dysregulation disorder.

Some of the factors that may cause disruptive mood dysregulation disorder include:

Moodiness
Anxiousness
Irritability
Difficult behavior
Family conflict
Difficulty in social settings
School suspensions
An environment of economic stress

DMDD vs. Bipolar Disorder

While DMDD and bipolar disorder have similar symptoms they are different in many ways. DMDD is a mental health disorder that most commonly affects children aged six to eighteen years old. Bipolar disorder is a condition that causes extreme mood swings in people of all ages. Bipolar disorder also manifests in adolescents or early adulthood and will last for the rest of the individual’s life, whereas DMDD can have symptoms dissipate as patients grow older.⁴

Other Similarities and Differences

DMDD and BD can both cause severe irritation, making it difficult for an individual to function in daily life. However, irritability in bipolar disorder generally only occurs during manic episodes, and then the person’s emotional state will return to normal between manic episodes.

If your child has DMDD, you may find that the child is often irritable and angry, without any sort of break. Another symptom of bipolar disorder is to have alternating episodes of mania and depression, whereas those with DMDD don’t tend to fluctuate their moods as often.

Psychological Treatments of Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder

The most effective disruptive mood dysregulation disorder interventions include psychotherapy, also called talk therapy. Medications can also be used to manage some more severe symptoms.⁵

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is a treatment method used by psychiatrists and other mental health professionals to help patients to identify and change problematic thoughts, emotions, and behavior. This is achieved through one-on-one meetings and group therapy sessions. Talk therapy may also address symptoms and other co-occurring mental health issues associated with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder.

Parent Training and Support

Parent training aims to assist parents in relating with their child in order to curb aggression and irritable behavior while also improving their relationship with their child. Parent training teaches parents more effective ways to respond to irritable behavior, such as anticipating events that may lead to a child’s temper outburst and planning ahead of time to avoid the outburst. Training also emphasizes the significance of predictability, consistency with children, and rewarding positive behavior.

Medication for DMDD

Besides therapy for disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder medication treatment is also available for treating chronic emotional dysregulation disorder. Some of the medications include:⁶

Stimulants: Stimulants are medications that speed up the body's systems and are used for treating behavioral issues like poor impulse control, hyperactivity, or trouble concentrating.
Antidepressants: These may be used to treat depression, a disruptive disorder, and other mood disorders in children. Antidepressants; help treat problems such as sleep irritability, aggression, or difficulties in school.
Atypical antipsychotics: These come as a last resort after all other disruptive mood dysregulation disorder treatments, and other disruptive mood dysregulation disorder interventions have failed. Mood dysregulation disorder in adults can be treated using FDA-approved risperidone and Abilify, and some mood disorders in kids. However, experts worry about the unknown effects of their long-term impact on children

Coping Strategies

Here are some tips that may you cope or help with certain symptoms of DMDD:

Get Help For Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder at Pacific Beach Health

Having a child or a loved one with DMDD may be confusing. You need to seek a proper diagnosis to ascertain your child’s type of mood disorder in order to accurately and safely treat the correct mood disorder. Please visit Pacific Beach Health for assistance with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder. Our staff has the necessary skills and we provide a supportive environment for a speedier recovery.

References:

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/disruptive-mood-dysregulation-disorder-dmdd/disruptive-mood-dysregulation-disorder
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29067863/
https://www.disorders.org/mood-disorders/disruptive-mood-dysregulation-disorder/symptoms-of-mood-dysregulation-disorder/
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/dmdd-vs-bipolar
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/disruptive-mood-dysregulation-disorder-dmdd/disruptive-mood-dysregulation-disorder
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/disruptive-mood-dysregulation-disorder/

What is Disruptive

Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)?

Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder can create hardships in a child’s life, making them not function well in school or other social settings.