How bad is avoidents personality disorder

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Seriously, don't take the opinions of all these pschychiatrists, psychologists and therapists too seriously because half the time they don't have a clue themselves!

People should only seek help from a professional if they have no other options but if that is not the case therapists should be avoided at all costs! They only add more problems to the ones you think you already have.

Last edited by pokerface on 12 May 2012, 8:57 am, edited 1 time in total.

I would say if you go to a doctor and you tell him that you haven't left the house in 3 years a AvPD DX might be appropriate. I think overall cases of AvPD are pretty clear cut.

That probably is appropriate, but finding a good therapist is like searching for a needle in a haystack. The majority of them suck!

I'm sorry to hear that. It sounds bad.

I don't go out much either. I did manage to go out of the house one time this week. I took the bus to the store to buy my souper meals because I ran out of them a while ago.

When I was a teenager I think they suspected some kind of social phobia but in one report they seemed to dismiss it because I went to a concert one time with my mother.

It really depends on the person. Some people have it very severely, (like myself-- I was diagnosed 4 years ago) and others don't have it as bad. In my case, it's about a 9. In your case, it could be better or worse, depending on your own limitations. But it can get better as long as CBT or other forms of therapy work for you.

It depends on what you ultimately want to do - whether you'd prefer to be less avoidant or if you find your current lifestyle ok

I only go out when I have to and this seems to suit me ok. After too long in the house I get a sort of panicky feeling that causes me to need to go out to get rid of the feeling.

Going out generally causes a level of stress that I need recovery time from though so I'm in two minds as to which is worst - going out or staying in? Both can be bad for your mental health in my opinion depending on what happens to you when out of the house and on what your thought patterns are when you stay in the house. It's all about trying to keep your focus more outwards so that you aren't ruminating negatively.

I don't take psychiatriy seriously as I see it as another form of social/mind control, like religion.
I think people are more mentally healthy when they take responsibility for their own actions instead of seeking instruction from some 'higher authority' which often doesn't have your best interests at heart.

I've recently been researching Freud and how he and his circle developed the field of psychoanalysis - you would not believe how f-ked up some of these people were - at least two of Freud's inner circle committed suicide and another who'd been Freud's best friend for a long period fell out with him and then thought Freud was trying to kill him! These are the 'fathers' of modern psychiatriy and all this was going on in their lives - they sound more
f-ked up than average to me! What does that tell you about the usefulness/relevance of psychiatry/therapy?

If you start delving into the backgrounds of all these people you find all this dubious stuff that shows you they were mainly highly Machiavellian types just furthering their own careers most of the time, with little regard for their patients except as guinea pigs to test their latest theories out on. I recommend reading up on it all - it's fascinating as well as highly disturbing!
You'll never take psychiatry seriously again!

[quote="Dillogic"]Verdandi,

No real point in having APD tagged on if you have an ASD. I know the causes are different, of course, but the ASD will supersede such with the same effect. Same with Schizoid PD.

OP:

Bad enough to be classed as a disorder. That's pretty much the defining point.[/quote

I don't got A ASD disorder we were just told this.
i still agree with my old diognosses. but whatever.

They wouldn't have gave me the diognosses if it wasn't in real life.

Yes i understand you there. i can't walk outside without thinking someone is looking at me thinking im strange or a freak.
i cant pick up a stick and bring it home because i believe im doing "Wrong". when im not.
I can't even talk to a person online fully because in my head i believe thell think im dumb and hate me.
i also think i got autism somewhere in this but ive been saying to my self i do and i don't my hole life so who knows.

I thought APD meant you spend half your life intentionally avoiding the things that make you anxious, not to a normal degree but to a point where it takes over your life. I avoid buses and trains at certain times where the children are all coming out of school because it makes me anxious for some reason. I don't just avoid it to a small degree, I literally base my whole days plans around trying to avoid this particular time. Also I avoid walking alone in the dark, and people often criticise about that and go, ''what are you going to do if you got a job where you had to walk home in the dark?'' I never know what to say to that annoying remark. Also I seriously avoid my brother because he's a creep and makes unpredictable noises (no, he's not mentally ret*d, he just loves being irritating), and I also avoid my uncle because he's a serious hypocrite. It makes me look selfish or nasty, but it's not, it's APD.

Great doom and gloom thread here... it's not all bad!

I've been diagnosed as avoidant, socially anxious and agoraphobic by various psychologists over the years. Didn't know it collectively had a name, but I don't care much for labels anymore. Anyway, APD basically sums up my day to day thinking, so ask me anything.

First of all, it's great that you are talking to someone about it, and us! While I personally don't seek counselling anymore, I think it's great to start off with when you are so confused. I would also recommend doing your own research so that you have an objective opinion about your treatment.

Don't start thinking you have autism or not, or thinking you're stupid or incapable. Just concentrate on identifying the symptoms with your counsellor and how to reduce those to improve your day to day life.

I've written a brief summary of what it is to me and how I deal with:

Short Term

Most of the anxiety stems from automatic negative thoughts and mind-reading (projecting?). Automatic negative thoughts are when you think "people are looking at me", "I'm going to panic if I get on this bus". Mind-reading is when you think that other people are thinking negative things about you, eg. "He's ugly/sweaty/fat/awkward", someone looks at my shirt with lint on it, "OH DEAR GOD THEY KNOW!!" I kid you not, this was my biggest fear today..

After years of trial and error, this is how I respond when I have negative thoughts:
1. Learn to identify these thoughts.
2. Apply a neutral feeling towards it *
3. Discredit the thought, eg. look around the room,"are people actually looking at me? No!"
4. Breeeeathe. Sounds dumb but I forget to breathe. 4 seconds in, 2 hold, 4 seconds out. This does two things:
a. it physically balances you out (something to do with CO2 vs oxygen in your blood) and reduces panic attack symptoms **
b. it moves your concentration away from the thought
5. Drink some water - distracts yourself and helps you to loosen up
6. Reward yourself
a. immediate, eg. "I did it! yay me!!"
b. set goals, eg. "if I go on the bus, I can sit down tonight all by myself and play xbox"

*this is essentially where APD and other people are different. These thoughts just don't occur to other people. You need to try and discredit the thoughts as much as possible, as soon as possible, to prove they are not true, otherwise it's just another thought you will think about even more.

** I mention panic attacks because if I don't avoid things, I get panic attacks, therefore I avoid things. I'm not sure what your response to not avoiding something is.

Long Term

The short term process helps me get through daily situations and keep on living my life, however nessa238 made a good point - you need to decide how you want to live. My best psychologist shocked me by saying "why don't you be a hermit? You can live a quiet, isolated lifestyle if that's what makes you comfortable." After years of being told I should fix this, I was asked, do I want to fix this? That was the first time I said yes.

I try to live a balanced lifestyle where I avoid things I don't have to do to give me capacity to handle things I need to do, eg. driving a car instead of taking a bus, living in a quiet area, working in a technical job and ordering stuff online. Too much of a good thing is bad for you , so I maintain it by consistently exposing myself to release the anxiety in manageable pieces, eg. going grocery shopping on the weekend and keeping up with a few friends.

APD can be a real downer (watch out for depression!) because it seems to never go away, but it can be managed with short term tools and long term lifestyle choices. There are also positives - being alone gives me lots of time to learn things and my sensitivity to criticism makes me a perfectionist. This tends to make me awesome at whatever I do, as long as I turn up!

One last tip, if you get that frozen feeling (I just can't walk through that door, or click submit), say "f*ck it" and just do it.

I'm not complaining about having APD. I'd rather just live with that label rather than the cringing ''Asperger's'' label. I hate that word, it's just so misunderstood and makes me feel worse than what I really am, and gives me a chill of embarrassment. I'd rather have something what is abbreviated, like ADHD, ADD, APD, SAD, LD, et cetera. I don't know why, it's just easier to explain, rather than saying ''I'm on the Autism spectrum''. I feel that saying that, you get a load of stereotypical questions thrown at you, and people make assumptions before they have even gotten a chance to meet you properly. If I just say ''I have Social Phobia'' or ''I have Avoidant Personality Disorder'', it just sounds more generalized.

Ranges from 1-7, depending on your particular problems. It doesn't actually put you in danger, except indirectly by cutting you off from other people who might help if you got in danger from some other reason.

But there's really a very wide range of severity. Since you're talking to people on the Internet, you haven't withdrawn completely, which is a good sign in general.

Yeah, your doctor's right; you can learn how to deal with avoidant personality disorder. It usually takes a while--personality disorders usually do, because they are more like a collection of habits and thought patterns than like a physical illness. But, on the bright side, a personality disorder is the extreme expression of normal personality traits--so, what you experience is what most people also experience; only your traits are much more extreme.

I wasn't talking about you, sorry. Things like it's "psychiatric mumbo jumbo" and "tends to be fairly severe" along with most of this thread being yeah my life sucks posts. Not very helpful.

I agree about the labels. I don't use labels in the rare case I do tell anyone anything. I've been pigeon holed for something as simple as agoraphobia. I don't even bother warning people, I just tell them if it's a problem, eg. "Excuse me, I'm feeling a bit claustrophobic" - people don't know the difference.

I have AS and AvPD. Regarding the AvPD, the only people I somewhat look forward to seeing are close family and friends - and sometimes even that's a struggle. Last weekend, for example, I saw my brother-in-law and other close friends for the first time in quite a while. I stayed inside for a long time until a couple of beers loosened me up, then I was fine. It's sad, though, when it takes alcohol to make me leave the house and visit with family.