Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DDDEA)

The Origin of a New Diagnostic Category

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder was added to the DSM-5 to address a significant concern about the classification of certain children.

This new category was created to describe children who exhibit patterns of severe anger in an attempt to rectify a problem of overdiagnosis.

Before the existence of this disorder, many chronically irritable children were misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder, a fact that generated much debate.

The increase in childhood bipolar diagnoses was due to clinicians conflating episodic presentations of mania with nonepisodic presentations of severe irritability.

It is hoped that with the inclusion of this new category, the number of childhood bipolar diagnoses will decrease significantly.

The Core Features of DSM-5

The core feature of Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder Disruptive Mood Disorder is an irritability that is chronic, severe, and also very persistent.

This severe irritability has two very prominent clinical manifestations that help identify the presence of this disorder.

The first is frequent outbursts of temper, which occur in response to frustration and can be both verbal and behavioral.

The second manifestation consists of a mood that is chronically irritable or angry, and that is persistent between outbursts.

This irritable mood must be a characteristic of the child, being present most of the day and being observable by other people.

The Fundamental Difference with Bipolar Disorder

The central characteristic that differentiates ADDD from bipolar disorders in children has to do with the lo