There are many types of mental health conditions that may have negative effects on your life and the lives of those around you. Avoidant Personality Disorder is one such mental health condition.
This condition may cause you to avoid social settings due to the fear of rejection. Diagnosing Avoidant Personality Disorder (AVPD) requires a mental health professional to make a formal diagnosis. If you feel you or a loved one is suffering from this condition, you should know a few things.
Causes And Symptoms Of Avoidant Personality Disorder
While the cause of Avoidance Personality Disorder is unknown, it is believed that many patients have suffered from child abuse and neglect. This is not to say that everyone who has this disorder was abused or neglected as a child. One of the primary reasons that a cause is unknown is that many people with the disorder do not attempt to seek treatment.
There is a wide variety of symptoms associated with Avoidance Personality Disorder and many people may exhibit some of these symptoms without actually having the disorder.
The most common symptoms of AVPD are:
- Avoidance
- Dependence on those around them
- Abandonment issues
- Depression
Many patients with this disorder will attempt to emotionally manipulate loved ones to get the support they feel they need.
Treatment For Avoidant Personality Disorder
While many treatments for mental health disorders involve a combination of individual and group therapy, we take a different approach with patients suffering from Avoidance Personality Disorder. Many of these patients are uncomfortable speaking in front of people much less in groups. For this reason we initially focus on cognitive behavioral therapy. This type of therapy focuses on changing your thoughts and behaviors and helps you to lead a more normal lifestyle.
The first things we work on include:
- Making eye contact
- Greeting people
- Smiling
- Conversation
- Being assertive
- Proper responses in conversation
We will first teach these behaviors in a one on one setting before beginning to use them in settings that are more social. Recovering from AVPD is a long-term process and many patients may continue making progress for months to years after completing the initial treatment program. Our goal is to allow patients to feel more comfortable in social settings and overcome their fear of rejection.
