Avoidant Personality Disorder:I understand that I may not be particularly well liked in this community of ours but I feel the need to reach out and touch base with you on a subject of relative importance and one that might render critical for those that can identify with it's parameters.
I'll first start with the facts before I drone off on whatever personal baggage that I can saran wrap onto this already anxiety-driven cocktail with the post-highschool depression spike sized hang-over that will follow after this whole thing is written. A n y w h o . . .
Avoidant Personality Disorder:"People with avoidant personality disorder experience long-standing feelings of inadequacy and are extremely sensitive to what others think about them. These feelings of inadequacy leads to the person to be socially inhibited and feel socially inept. Because of these feelings of inadequacy and inhibition, the person with avoidant personality disorder will seek to avoid work, school and any activities that involve socializing or interacting with others.
Individuals with Avoidant Personality Disorder often vigilantly appraise the movements and expressions of those with whom they come into contact. Their fearful and tense demeanor may elicit ridicule from others, which in turn confirms their self-doubts. They are very anxious about the possibility that they will react to criticism with blushing or crying. They are described by others as being “shy,” “timid,” “lonely,” and “isolated.”
The major problems associated with this disorder occur in social and occupational functioning. The low self-esteem and hypersensitivity to rejection are associated with restricted interpersonal contacts. These individuals may become relatively isolated and usually do not have a large social support network that can help them weather crises. They desire affection and acceptance and may fantasize about idealized relationships with others. The avoidant behaviors can also adversely affect occupational functioning because these individuals try to avoid the types of social situations that may be important for meeting the basic demands of the job or for advancement.
A personality disorder is an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates from the norm of the individual’s culture. The pattern is seen in two or more of the following areas: cognition; affect; interpersonal functioning; or impulse control. The enduring pattern is inflexible and pervasive across a broad range of personal and social situations. It typically leads to significant distress or impairment in social, work or other areas of functioning. The pattern is stable and of long duration, and its onset can be traced back to early adulthood or adolescence.
Symptoms of Avoidant Personality Disorder
Avoidant personality disorder is characterized by a long-standing pattern of feelings of inadequacy, extreme sensitivity to what other people think about them, and social inhibition. It typically manifests itself by early adulthood and includes a majority of the following symptoms:
Avoids occupational activities that involve significant interpersonal contact, because of fears of criticism, disapproval, or rejection
Is unwilling to get involved with people unless certain of being liked
Shows restraint within intimate relationships because of the fear of being shamed or ridiculed
Is preoccupied with being criticized or rejected in social situations
Is inhibited in new interpersonal situations because of feelings of inadequacy
Views themself as socially inept, personally unappealing, or inferior to others
Is unusually reluctant to take personal risks or to engage in any new activities because they may prove embarrassing
Because personality disorders describe long-standing and enduring patterns of behavior, they are most often diagnosed in adulthood. It is uncommon for them to be diagnosed in childhood or adolescence, because a child or teen is under constant development, personality changes and maturation. However, if it is diagnosed in a child or teen, the features must have been present for at least 1 year.
Avoidant personality disorder appears to occur in 2.4 percent in the general population, according to 2002 NESARC research.
Like most personality disorders, avoidant personality disorder typically will decrease in intensity with age, with many people experiencing few of the most extreme symptoms by the time they are in the 40s or 50s.
Symptoms of Avoidant Personality DisorderAvoids occupational activities that involve significant interpersonal contact, because of fears of criticism, disapproval, or rejection
Is unwilling to get involved with people unless certain of being liked
Shows restraint within intimate relationships because of the fear of being shamed or ridiculed
Is preoccupied with being criticized or rejected in social situations
Is inhibited in new interpersonal situations because of feelings of inadequacy
Views themself as socially inept, personally unappealing, or inferior to others
Is unusually reluctant to take personal risks or to engage in any new activities because they may prove embarrassing."
(source: https://psychcentral.com/disorders/avoidant-personality-disorder-symptoms/)
So, as a person who is dealing with this psychological cluster fuck, due to
my own past experiences I wanted to reach out and try help others identify if they may be experiencing these say sort of socially definitive affliction.
I'm able to cope with it now and I've been as socially successful as I had been only because I was never allowed to show fear or timidness. My charisma and assertiveness was literally beaten into me as a youngster which did help a great deal in the employment aspect of things, I'm not a private security official and I'm making over 1,200 every two weeks ( that's neither here nor there but I am really fucking proud, considering my four years of homelessness as the precursor to my adult life. ) but in doing so it caused more of an emotional backlash in my relationships altogether, be it platonic, intimate, romantic or sexual. Even my co-worker relationships seemed to suffer a great deal from this internal conflict between a hermit and a dragon.
I had never understood it, I really had not. I had figured that it was just a profound flaw in my overall manner of being, something was unable to connect. Therefor, when the anxiety stuck, I'd frenzy like I was always known for. I'd lash out in horrible ways but the odd thing about it is that I would always feel very bad about it. The guilt was unbearable, but I could not dismiss my actions as something that was not of my own doing. It wasn't logical. It wasn't beyond my responsibility to collect my consequences in due process of my actions. It was my bed to lay it, and I had made it. But, given this, there was always something eating at me. Until recently when I had discovered this very real disorder.
Apparently, awareness for this
Avoidant Personality Disorder is outstandingly low because the people who suffer from this sort of thing, don't want to see anyone about as the natural order of the mental illness would have it's applicants behave. It's ironic when you think about it.
So anyway, that's all that I have to say about it right now, but please please if you know anyone who suffers like this or anyone who knows anyone that may show these symptoms, please reach out to them and communicate to them with this information handy.
If you, yourself have your own experiences then it would mean the world to me if you could share whatever you can in the comment section below so that others just like you might find the courage to come forward and be honest about their personal disposition.
Thanks so much for listening, guys.
