Avoidant Personality Disorder

[Melchy]

It was a psychiatrist, not a psychologist. Psych? Could be either I guess.

 

[Argon]

You can go to 5 different shrinks and get 5 different diagnoses. A shrink once said AvPD could be my Axis II diagnosis. The description fits me pretty well, but as I have gotten older schizoid traits are becoming more evident.

 

[Twinkle Toes]

There's a lot of overlap. I've always had autism and had severe speech difficulties as child so got made fun of. That made me refuse to speak in class or public (appearing like selective mutism) Although I had auditory processing issues too, some noises made me scream but yet I would 'fail to hear' or understand speech.

I was given hearing aids though I soon learned to have them switched off, when others learned to look behind my ears (i had short hair then) to see what position the switch was on, I learned to put in dud batteries or hide a neck loop under my clothes and a walkman on a belt hook under baggy clothes!

I learned kids born deaf had poorer speech and could get away with signing or writing notes in shops so I learned to sign and got in a deaf college (as interpreters for 'mainstream' college students were very rare back then).

I wasn't as avoidant when younger maybe cos there seemed to be more I wanted to do but still I'd only attempt things where I could manage to avoid what I refused to do yet still fit in 'with normal' and still be seen to be trying!

I think as I've got older I just care less what others think. I live more isolated (by choice) don't drive and have had mobility issues for much of the last 15 years. I think the death of a loved one and then being hit by peri menopause hasn't helped my mental health either it stripped me of the motivation I had when younger.

I welcomed the pandemic as a legit excuse to not do anything or go anywhere but it's made my avoidant issues more intense. I have no motivation or interest in working round them though to meet any social or life demands other than from immediate family and meeting my pets needs.

 

[MHFPokeplantz]

It was a psychiatrist, not a psychologist. Psych? Could be either I guess.

Yes I realized it eventually, forget it

 

[cimcorp]

Hello I'm now 36 years old are since a young age I've always sensed something about my life was not "normal",Things were not meant to be this hard in life cant say anything to anyone that im truely feeling , never want to put anyone out or bother them always making sure everyone likes me and cant have nothing bad to say about me like my life means less than theres .I've always thought it was the drug abuse that had my life in disarray or it must be the depression ,APD is causing my depression the drugs is helping me deal with that depression. I can't keep living this life anymore I'm so suppressed how do I live my life with this personality disorder

 

[Melchy]

There may be some hard choices ahead for you. Have you had AvPD diagnosed? If so, Have you been prescribed meds, and has any therapy been proposed?

Street drugs will certainly make your journey harder.

I’m not predicting your future, but what I found is that eventually I gave up on people and secluded myself, unable to trust others or feel that it was worth all the effort.

 

[cimcorp]

There may be some hard choices ahead for you. Have you had AvPD diagnosed? If so, Have you been prescribed meds, and has any therapy been proposed?

Street drugs will certainly make your journey harder.

I’m not predicting your future, but what I found is that eventually I gave up on people and secluded myself, unable to trust others or feel that it was worth all the effort.

I haven't been diagnosed with avpd only dysthymia/mdd I've been on ssri since I was younger which have help for short periods of time. What your described sounds like where I'm heading. Have you been diagnosed with avpd ? How old are you if you don't mind me asking .

 

[Melchy]

Yes, I’ve been diagnosed with AvPD, amongst other things.

Perhaps you need to discuss AvPD with your psych before giving yourself worries. Of course, you can self diagnose, but it should really be a psych that does the diagnosis.

But there’s one thing you can diagnose yrself with..... and that’s your drug use. Without wishing to lecture on what you already know, using drugs will make your mdd much much worse.

You can make your prognosis a whole load better. You can start that today

 

[Argon]

I haven't been diagnosed with avpd only dysthymia/mdd I've been on ssri since I was younger which have help for short periods of time. What your described sounds like where I'm heading. Have you been diagnosed with avpd ? How old are you if you don't mind me asking .

Up until a few years ago AvPD was just an axis II diagnosis that was considered an un-treatable personality trait. People with AvPD will be prone to depression and major social or general anxiety. Those can be treated but it's really hard to change a deeply ingrained personality trait.

 

[cimcorp]

Up until a few years ago AvPD was just an axis II diagnosis that was considered an un-treatable personality trait. People with AvPD will be prone to depression and major social or general anxiety. Those can be treated but it's really hard to change a deeply ingrained personality trait.

You just got to stay positive and be surrounded by the right people that understand , but I'm yet to figure out how to explain this to people.

 

[Argon]

You just got to stay positive and be surrounded by the right people that understand , but I'm yet to figure out how to explain this to people.

I AM positive. Positive that people are jackholes. lol. Best to avoid them.