In my answer to the question How does a person know if he should seek treatment for depression since feeling moody is unavoidable?, I have pointed out that DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) talks about a depressive disorder which is specific to 7-18 year olds only, with onset before 10 years old, and that is Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD) (pp. 156-160).
I am not sure what I think about this, as it could be seen to be
oh, it’s just childhood/teenage tantrums which they will grow out of.
The other side to this being in the DSM is that it says in the note under criteria J on page 156, that DMDD cannot coexist with Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD) and individuals whose symptoms meet the criteria for both Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder and ODD should only be given the diagnosis of Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder, however, doing this will indicate that the ODD aspects are a result of depression.
Page 159, under the heading of Oppositional defiant disorder, says that "while symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder typically do occur in children with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder," the mood symptoms of DMDD are relatively rare in children with ODD, and
while most children whose symptoms meet criteria for disruptive mood dysregulation disorder will also have a presentation that meets criteria for oppositional defiant disorder, the reverse is not the case.
Again, page 159 agrees with page 156 which says DMDD cannot coexist with ODD, and says:
Moreover, even for children in whom criteria for both disorders are met, only diagnosis of disruptive dysregulation disorder should be made.
Why can children not suffer from ODD and have depression because they feel there are oppression attempts against them?
References
American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th Edition). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.
