Children with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD) have severe and frequent temper tantrums that interfere with their ability to function at home, in ...SkiptomaincontentLoadingDisruptiveMoodDysregulationDisorder(DMDD)No.110;UpdatedMay2019Childrenwithdisruptivemooddysregulationdisorder(DMDD)havesevereandfrequenttempertantrumsthatinterferewiththeirabilitytofunctionathome,inschool,orwiththeirfriends.Someofthesechildrenwerepreviouslydiagnosedwithbipolardisorder,eventhoughtheyoftendidnothaveallthesignsandsymptoms.ResearchhasalsodemonstratedthatchildrenwithDMDDusuallydonotgoontohavebipolardisorderinadulthood.Theyaremorelikelytodevelopproblemswithdepressionoranxiety.Manychildrenareirritable,upset,ormoodyfromtimetotime.Occasionaltempertantrumsarealsoanormalpartofgrowingup.However,whenchildrenareusuallyirritableorangryorwhentempertantrumsarefrequent,intense,andongoing,itmaybesignsofamooddisordersuchasDMDD.SymptomsofDMDDThesymptomsofDMDDinclude:SeveretemperoutburstsatleastthreetimesaweekSad,irritable,orangrymoodalmosteverydayReactionisbiggerthanexpectedChildmustbeatleastsixyearsoldSymptomsbeginbeforeagetenSymptomsarepresentforatleastayearChildhastroublefunctioninginmorethanoneplace(e.g.,home,school,and/orwithfriends)SomeofthesymptomsassociatedwithDMDDarealsopresentinotherchildpsychiatricdisorders,suchasdepression,bipolardisorder,andoppositionaldefiantdisorder.SomechildrenwithDMDDalsohaveaseconddisorder,suchasproblemswithattentionoranxiety.Thisiswhyitisparticularlyimportanttogetacomprehensiveevaluationbyatrainedandqualifiedmentalhealthprofessional.WhattoDoThetreatmentforDMDDwillbeindividualizedtotheneedsoftheparticularchildandhisorherfamily.Itmayincludeindividualtherapy,aswellasworkwiththechild'sfamilyand/orschool.Itmayalsoincludetheuseofmedicationtohelpaddressspecificsymptoms.ParentsofchildrenwithDMDDshouldlearnasmuchastheycanaboutthedisorder.Theyshouldasklotsofquestionsabouttherisksandbenefitsofspecifictreatmentoptionsbeforedecidingwhatisbestfortheirchild.Iftheyhav