Avoidant Personality Disorder

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Avoidant Personality Disorder is defined by extreme social anxiety. This is due to a persistent feeling of inadequacy, lack of self-confidence, inferiority and lack of self-worth. Those with the disorder often avoid social situations and seek out jobs that involve little contact with other people. Attending school, making new friends and accepting a promotion may also be avoided for fear of being rejected and worrying about embarrassing themselves. Criticism and disagreement is perceived as ridicule, shaming and rejection. This leads sufferers to only interacting with those who are sure to like them.

The potential difficulty of new situations is exaggerated to rationalise avoiding them. People with Avoidant Personality Disorder often have no close relationships outside their family circle, even though they would like to have. They often create fantasy worlds and daydream about ideal relationships and social relations, but these fantasies are unable to be real. Avoidants therefore usually only establish relationships with friends or spouses who accept them unconditionally.

To others, those with the disorder come across as extremely shy, lonely, isolated, unfriendly, resistant to change and inhibited. This perception often creates the very ridicule that the sufferer wanted to avoid in the first place. Avoidants often minimise the value of themselves and their abilities, thus criticism is inevitable. Loss and rejection are so painful that individuals typically choose loneliness rather than risk trying to connect with others.

Those with avoidant personality disorder get distressed with their inability to relate to others in the way they wish they could do. Yet the fear of embarrassing themselves, blushing or being criticised prevents them from doing just this. They are hypersensitive and frequently depressed. This disorder is often accompanied by other personality disorders, such as dependent, borderline, paranoid, schizoid and schizotypal personality disorders. Although this disorder is similar to social phobia, it's more about fear of social relationships and intimacy than of social situations.

Symptoms:

Avoids occupational activities

Easily hurt by criticism or disapproval

Has no close friends

Reluctance to become involved with other people

Reluctance to take personal risks or engage in new activities

Inhibited

Shy in social situations

Preoccupied with being criticised

Exaggerates potential difficulties

Causes:

The cause of avoidant personality disorder is still unknown. However, some theories have stated that environmental and biological factors are likely to contribute to the development of the disorder.

Treatment:

The treatment of choice is usually psychotherapy, as with most personality disorders. Individual therapy is usually preferred, however if the individual will agree to attend group therapy, this will also be useful. Individuals rarely seek treatment on their own however, unless something big has happened in their life and their disorder does not allow them to cope adequately. Medications should only be prescribed for specific and acute Axis I diagnoses, as with all personality disorders.

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