conduct disorder

One of the “pleasures” (if you can call it that) of child and adolescent mental health is that we get to see the next generation of mental health users growing up. Its a truism of child psychiatry that attachment disorders grow up to become borderline personality disorders, conduct disorders grow up to become antisocial personality disorders, and so on.

Let’s talk about conduct disorders, since at the moment I’m working with a lad who could be described (when I have my clinician hat on) as “displaying a conduct disorder with anger problems and oppositional behaviours”. Were I to have encountered him in the street, away from such niceties as “non-judgemental attitudes” and “unconditional positive regard”, I’d probably describe him as “a nasty, chavvy little fucking thug” and then yell at him to stay the fuck away from my car.
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