# Avoidant personality disorder?



## Trek (Apr 12, 2010)

Apparently, I also have this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avoidant_personality_disorder

It seems really similar to SA, and probably they each make up some of each other.

Anyone else?


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## Whitney (Oct 2, 2008)

Yeah I fit the diagnostic criteria perfectly, but I try not to think about it too much. It is too depressing because personality disorders are lifelong and there really isn't much you can do about them. I hate the thought that something is fundamentally wrong with my personality.


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## mcmuffinme (Mar 12, 2010)

I've always identified most with avoidant personality disorder. I have always relied on fantasy as a way of escaping my own painful thoughts, as well as the sad reality that is my life. 

Luckily, medication has helped me to be less critical of myself. I have a tendency to be really hard on myself, and to think endlessly self-deprecating thoughts. God bless SSRI's.


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## ktbare (Sep 13, 2009)

Yes. I have been diagnosed with this also. I have always lived in my own little dreamland.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

My view is that avoidant personality disorder is just another -- far less common way -- of saying severe social anxiety disorder.


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## BetaBoy90 (Jan 5, 2010)

UltraShy said:


> My view is that avoidant personality disorder is just another -- far less common way -- of saying severe social anxiety disorder.


agreed


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## XxArmyofOnexX (Aug 13, 2007)

UltraShy said:


> My view is that avoidant personality disorder is just another -- far less common way -- of saying severe social anxiety disorder.


Exactly, like SA Plus.


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## ctrlaltdelete (May 13, 2010)

"However, unlike social phobics, people with AvPD may also excessively monitor the reactions of the people with whom they are interacting."

Sounds about right. And....

"The extreme tension created by this monitoring may account for the hesitant speech and taciturnity of many people with AvPD; they are so preoccupied with monitoring themselves and others that producing fluent speech is difficult."

SA on steroids.


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## Whitney (Oct 2, 2008)

ctrlaltdelete said:


> "The extreme tension created by this monitoring may account for the hesitant speech and taciturnity of many people with AvPD; they are so preoccupied with monitoring themselves and others that producing fluent speech is difficult."


I have that speech problem 

I used to get mad at my ex for interrupting me, and he would say, "you take these big long pauses in the middle of your sentence, I think you are done!" sigh...


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## PerfectStrangersx (Mar 8, 2010)

I also have this speech problem and since I've become aware of it I have been even more reluctant to talk to people. I haven't spoke to anyone for three days and haven't left the house for ten (which is nothing considering my history with agoraphobia) but I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.


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## jigme911 (May 3, 2010)

i went to c a physcatrist and he told me this
people make up lot of diagnosis n it is stupid 
becuz all of this fall under depression and anxiety, don't make it more complicated and waste ur money. the solution is to improve ur thinking, attitude everyday, go out practice love and compassion n then u will c all of human beings r same that wanting to happiness n free from suffering. they all wear mask just to survive in this world. it doesn't mean that they want to be tough, they want to hurt u. 

replace ur thinking more realistically by. i went to wonderland alone and i got backstabbed lot of times in my life. but that day, i accepted my feelings and thoughts. in my mind, "they must have been very angry n its their filter mind, i know their true nature is very funny and emotional loving kindness". 
I saw another kid with a glass looked like 11 yrs old and he was alone n i was alone but didn't c anyone alone other than me. but u know i learn from them a lot. i corrected my thinking at the same time. look around like i have the right to u know hustle, frown a bit cuz being serious sometimes scares people. so if u understand ur mind u understand other people. why they do this n that. that will help u a lot in ur life n ur future is very important. 

also start slowly not too much not too less. don't be obsessed with small things. cuz really it doesn't matter. the solution is to excercise ur mind more effectively and correct ur thinking

"mind is like a small tree that can grow so tall and serve animal with apples"
so u have to relax and take it easy n slowly, don't worry wt people say cuz they don't mean it, they just say it to survive like to make other people think that he is cool or smart. 

sometimes i think i am physco cuz when i typed too much lol.


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## gg87 (Sep 26, 2006)

Yep, I believe that I'm someone that fits the description as well.


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## Disastuh (Mar 20, 2010)

PerfectStrangersx said:


> I also have this speech problem and since I've become aware of it I have been even more reluctant to talk to people. I haven't spoke to anyone for three days and haven't left the house for ten (which is nothing considering my history with agoraphobia) but I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.


Yeah, this is such a problem for me  I wouldn't speak to people at all, really, if I didn't have a boyfriend. And I can spend ridiculous amounts of time indoors. Luckily, when I get a little stir crazy I can ask him to go for a walk with me...otherwise I would have a hard time going out on my own.

This is interesting. I haven't really thought about AvPD in a while...but I do feel like my SA is more pervasive and fundamentally underlying my personality. I do want to have close friendships, but it's sooo haaard, and I'm sooo sensitiiive.


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## Equisgurl (Nov 22, 2004)

I have AvpD as well. I think for me my biggest obstacle is extremely low self esteem, fear of intimacy, fear of physical contact, overanalyzing every sentence in my mind before saying it. Living in the past and having a rich fantasy life, hoping for a better future without actually wanting to deal with current circumstances. Its very common for people with Avpd to create this fantasy world and live in denial thinking that someday I'll have a good job, a happy marriage, kids, the whole shabang, but its far too challenging to put those dreams into practice so we give up. I struggle with it every day, but I'm not willing to go down easily.


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## pollster (Oct 4, 2009)

Yes I absolutely have this. And it sucks.

I think I've always been this way.


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## SilentLoner (Jan 30, 2006)

I would probably qualify for AvPD. I wish I could trade it for Schizoid PD instead, it seems appealing by comparison.


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## scarpia (Nov 23, 2009)

It's pretty common for people with AvPD to have SA also. Personality disorders are considered Axis II while SA and GAD and depresion that often come with AvPD are considered treatable Axis I disorders. Lots of therapists won't even bother giving someone an axis II diagnosis since insurance companies will not pay for treatment of axis II. Here's part of an article:

By KAREN KERSTING
_Monitor_ Staff
March 2004, Vol 35, No. 3

Historically, practitioners have balked at taking on patients with personality disorders (PDs), often considering them untreatable. While that's beginning to change due to new, more hopeful research findings on PD treatment, negative attitudes persist among insurers, many of whom still fail to reimburse for PD treatments.
As justification, insurers say there isn't enough research showing treatment efficacy for Axis II disorders (the group in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders that includes PDs), especially relative to Axis I disorders. And PDs remain an unpopular research topic because of the lingering stigma that they are untreatable, say experts.
"For the most part, insurers think personality disorders are a lost cause--something they don't want to cover," says psychologist James Pretzer, PhD, of the Cleveland Center for Cognitive Therapy, who offers practitioners training in treating PDs.
What's more, Axis I symptoms are usually more apparent to the patient and their families, and more likely to put them in crisis, so patients often come to therapists complaining of problems like depression and anxiety, which can be symptomatic of an underlying PD, says Pretzer.
But because of insurer coverage, therapists often bill only for treatment of the Axis I disorders, Pretzer says. And even though this practice is ethical because those Axis I disorders are real and evident, Pretzer adds, it doesn't provide the most effective treatment for the PD itself.


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## Whitney (Oct 2, 2008)

I think they get that stigma of being untreatable because they involve patterns of behavior that endure across all situations and generally considered life-long.


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## rachelynn (Sep 12, 2008)

What does it mean to excessively monitor reactions of other people? and yourself?


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## Freiheit (Dec 8, 2008)

I definitely have this because I do all those things listed under the description. In a way though, I think my severe SA causes this, I think. It's the being anxious itself that makes my self esteem low and avoid social situations because of how exhausting and irritating it is to have to deal with fear and stress while in the company of others, while no one else around me seems to have that problem.


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## psychstudent (Apr 12, 2012)

*Social Phobia and Avoidant Personality Disorder*

Hi, I am a high school student conducting a research project about the similarities between social phobia and avoidant personality disorder for my Independent Research G/T class. It would be a huge help if you could complete this form. All answers are completely anonymous.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEhydjhtWHJhdGR4Q1FYOHdqV3gzWUE6MQ


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