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    • Addiction Guide
      • Adderall Guide | Side Effects
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      • Is bipolar disorder genetic and triggered later on?
      • Is cognitive therapy effective for bipolar disorder?
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      • 10 Warning Signs of Teenage Mental Illness
      • Munchausen Syndrome
      • How Does Social Media Affect Teenagers’ Mental Health?
      • Oppositional Defiant Disorder
      • Spotting Types of Depression in Children
      • Teen Suicide
      • Top Tips For Parents
      • Video Game Therapy for ADHD
      • What is a Residential Mental Health Facility for Teenagers Like
      • Why Is Mental Health on the Rise Amongst Teenagers?
    • Is Social Media Ruining Our Self-Esteem? 
    • Mental Health Guide
      • COVID Counseling to Battle Mental Health Issues
      • Guide to Anxiety Medication
      • Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder
      • High Functioning Depression | Signs | Symptoms
      • How Can We Prevent Mental Illness in Youth?
      • How Do You Help Someone with Avoidant Personality?
      • How Does Online Counseling Work for Mental Health?
      • How Can a Mental Health Counselor Help
      • Mental Breakdown
      • Schizoid Personality Disorder
      • Postpartum Depression
      • Types of Mood Disorders
      • The Toll of Grief and How to Cope with It
      • What are The Major Affective Disorders?
      • What Cognitive Psychology Teaches Us About How We Think
      • What Is Clinical Mental Health Counseling
      • What are mental health symptoms you should never ignore?
      • What is Bipolar II Disorder? Symptoms and Treatment
      • What is the Difference Between Manic and Hypomanic?
      • What is schizoaffective disorder?
      • Is seasonal affective disorder (SAD) a mental illness?
      • What is substance induced mood disorder?
      • Is Depression a Permanent Mental Disorder?
      • What is the prognosis for Major Depressive Disorder?
    • Marriage Counseling | Benefits
    • Pandemic Related Issues
      • COVID Counseling to Battle Mental Health Issues
      • Work Stress Post-Pandemic
      • Shocking Growth of Anxiety During the Pandemic
    • Relationship Issues
      • How to deal with toxic relationship?
      • How does a toxic relationship affect your mental health?
      • What is gaslighting in a relationship?
      • What is the best way to help a partner who has trust issues?
      • What’s the best way to work out relationship problems?
      • 10 ways to improve communication in relationships
    • Spirituality in Addiction Treatment  
    • Therapy
      • Can I See a Psychiatrist Without a Referral?
      • DBT Therapy for Adolescents
      • DCBT- Digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
      • Deep Brain Stimulation to Treat OCD
      • Do I Need a Referral to See a Therapist?
      • Family Therapy: Definition, Types, Techniques, and Efficacy
      • How Can Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) Help Mental Disorders?
      • EMDR Therapy for Mental Health Conditions
      • Psychiatrist vs. Psychologist
      • Is Therapy Covered by Health Insurance?
      • Psychodynamic Therapy vs CBT
      • Psychotherapy
      • SMART Recovery
      • What Can Psychologists Treat
      • What is Group Therapy
      • What is Internal Family Systems Therapy
      • What Is the Role of the Counselor in Family Therapy
      • What Is Psychoanalysis
    • Trauma Bonding With Intimate Partner Violence
    • Teen Mental Health
      • Can a Minor Go to Therapy Without Parents Permission?
      • Teen Co-Occurring Disorders
      • What are the signs of depression in adolescents?
      • warning signs of suicide in adolescents
      • Mental Health Benefits of Exercise in Teens
      • How is the pandemic affecting mental health in teenagers?
    • Types of Disorder
      • Anti-Social Personality Disorder
      • Autism Spectrum Disorder
      • Avoidant Personality Disorder
      • Bipolar Disorder Symptoms | Causes | Diagnosis
      • Diagnosing and Treating an Adjustment Disorder
      • Histrionic Personality Disorder
      • Intermittent Explosive Disorder
      • Paranoid Personality Disorder
    • Veterans Guide
      • Functional Medicine for Military
      • Service Dogs Help Veterans with PTSD
    • Process Addiction
      • Gambling addiction
      • How do you know if you have an addictive personality?
      • What is Impulse-Control Disorder?
      • Process Addiction

How Do You Help Someone with Avoidant Personality?

What is avoidant personality disorder? Learn more about avoidant personality, how to help someone with avoidant personality and treatment options.

Overview

Individuals with avoidant personalities are timid and often find it challenging to maintain relationships with others. These individuals always find a reason to avoid social functions or events because they experience social awkwardness. In addition, people experiencing this disorder are sensitive to judgments because they often feel inadequate. 

It is best for individuals experiencing this condition to seek medical opinion because it affects them socially and psychologically. Individuals experiencing this mental health condition are often afraid to speak up in gatherings because they fear getting embarrassed. These individuals tend to anxiously look around for signs of rejection and approval because they have low self-esteem.

What Is Avoidant Personality Disorder?

An avoidant personality disorder is a severe mental health condition that affects the ability of an individual to interact and maintain relationships.1

These individuals experience long-term feelings of inadequacy, rejection, social inhibition, and sensitivity to criticism. The condition affects the individual’s day-to-day life by making it difficult to connect with people.2

Why It’s Important to Address It

The mental health condition is challenging to diagnose because a lot of its symptoms resemble symptoms of some other personality disorder. People with this condition fear disapproval and criticism, hence they often keep to themselves. An avoidant personality disorder marriage tends to fail because the individual with this condition finds it difficult to maintain a relationship. 

High functioning avoidant personality disorder in relationships brings about a lack of emotional connections. Dating someone with avoidant personality disorder requires continued patience and understanding. Although the condition shares some symptoms with other personality disorders, diagnosing it is possible. It is crucial to have the correct diagnosis before creating a treatment plan for the individual.  In avoidant personality disorder romantic relationships, there are often communication issues because avoidants are emotionally unavailable. 

What Are the Causes?

A combination of several factors, such as social, psychological, and biological factors, leads to the development of the disorder. Individuals with anxiety disorder and traits of shyness and fear in unfamiliar situations are at risk of AVPD. The following are some other causes of AVPD in individuals:

  • Neglect, childhood abuse, and trauma are also causes of AVPD in individuals
  • Individuals experiencing severe anxiety and depression are prone to avoidant personality disorder vs. social anxiety
  • Physical illness or genetics that makes the individual stand out from societal norms
  • Trauma from past humiliation and rejection

Signs and Symptoms of Avoidant Personality Disorder

There are several avoidant personality disorder symptoms that individuals experience. Feeling shy and uncertain is one of the common avoidant personality disorder symptoms. Other signs and symptoms of avoidant personality disorder behaviors in an individual are:

  • Low self-esteem
  • Fear rejection
  • Self-isolation
  • Feelings of worthiness
  • Avoiding social activities
  • Overwhelming discomfort with work

How Do You Help Someone with Avoidant Personality?

Partners of AVPD individuals often wonder how to love someone with an avoidant personality disorder. Some ways to help someone with this condition will be detailed below.

Know the Symptoms of the Disorder

Individuals with this disorder often exhibit various symptoms and feel tense and inhibited. These individuals often spend more time alone and are never with friends. The condition makes it quite difficult for individuals to keep and maintain relationships with others. AVPD increases the individual’s anxiety in social gatherings because these individuals feel inadequate. 

Encourage Them to Seek Treatment

One of the best ways to treat avoidant personality disorder behaviors is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Therapy is an efficient way to get individuals to feel adequate and less self-conscious about themselves. During therapy, the individual will find ways to cope better with the condition. Also, tactfully breach the topic with the individuals to avoid making them feel judged and defensive. 

Empower Them Through Validation

Individuals experiencing this mental health condition often have low self-esteem and self-worth; hence they require validation. Empower these individuals by validating and celebrating their wins and accomplishments.3

Encourage Coping Strategies

Most individuals experiencing AVPD are at a high risk of developing some problems with substance abuse. These individuals are prone to anxiety and depression, and having an excellent coping strategy can help them deal with their feelings more constructively. Encourage a good coping strategy to help them constructively deal with their emotions.

Set and Enforce Personal Boundaries

Sometimes individuals with this disorder are often emotionally tiring and unintentionally hurtful. Do not feel guilty if you cannot help them as much as they would like, and be up-front about it. Setting boundaries with them to limit the time needed so it won’t affect other essential parts of your life is vital. These boundaries will inform them of when you will and won’t be available. 

Participate in Support Groups

Participation in support groups where individuals with avoidant personalities can discuss their experiences is vital. Communicating with other individuals in avoidant personality disorder support groups often provides a sense of understanding. There are also online support groups for individuals who find it difficult to attend face-to-face meetings. 

Develop Their Support Network

Always reach out and encourage the individual to develop a social network by spending time with them. Also, reach out to the individual’s loved ones and motivate them to spend time with the individual.

Do Not Force Them Into Social Situations

Avoid forcing these individuals against their will into social situations. It can be upsetting for these individuals with AVPD to be in the spotlight of conversations. Therefore, placing these individuals in a social gathering against their will is not effective.

Diagnosis of Avoidant Personality Disorder

The following are some of the ways to diagnose avoidant personality disorder in individuals:

Medical History

When diagnosing this disorder, the medical practitioner evaluates the individual’s medical history. Medical history is one of the most effective ways of diagnosing this disorder.

Physical Exam

Running physical exams also helps to rule out any similar physical problems which may be causing the same symptoms.

Diagnostic Tests

In this case, the medical practitioner runs a diagnostic avoidant personality disorder test to be sure. While running the avoidant personality disorder test, the doctor rules out physical illnesses with similar symptoms.

Treatment Options Available for Avoidant Personality

Some avoidant personality treatment options available include:

  • Medications: Although no specific medications are approved for treating AVPD, doctors often administer antidepressants to help with depression and anxiety.
  • Therapies: Another avoidant personality treatment option available is psychotherapy. It is one of the best treatments for individuals with avoidant personalities. Psychotherapy is a treatment option that involves using psychology or talk therapy to treat AVPD in individuals.4
  • Self-Help: Self-help is another important factor when treating individuals with AVPD. The individual can use medication and healthy coping mechanisms for an effective result.

Getting Professional Help for Avoidant Personality at Pacific Beach Health

High-functioning avoidant personality disorder negatively affects the day-to-day activities of an individual. These individuals feel inadequate; hence they have low self-esteem. It is a disorder that affects the ability of an individual to maintain and initiate relationships with others. Individuals living with this disorder can get professional help for avoidant personality disorder at Pacific Beach Health.

Pacific Beach Health offers various outpatient behavioral health services to individuals. We are professionals with experience in helping individuals with avoidant personality disorder. 

Resources

  1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559325/
  2. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Avoidant-Personality-Disorder%3A-a-Current-Review-Weinbrecht-Schulze/6f53812ba3bd0c7e7dd97d6a84ad26439edb50f3
  3. https://www.science.gov/topicpages/a/avoidant+personality+disorder.html
  4. https://www.simplypsychology.org/avoidant-personality-disorder.html

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