Avoidant personality disorder is also sometimes called anxious personality disorder. It is a psychiatric illness that affects the way a person views his or her self-worth. People suffering from avoidant personality disorder often are very shy, have feelings of inadequacy, experience extreme sensitivity to criticism, and generally avoid situations that involve social interaction.
Most people who suffer from avoidant personality disorder are naturally reluctant to seek out any treatment for their condition. Because of this, most cases of avoidant personality disorder go undiagnosed and therefore untreated. If you think you might be experiencing symptoms of avoidant personality disorder, it is important to understand that diagnosis and treatment are the only ways to learn how to manage your symptoms.
Psychotherapy
There are several different avenues for treatment of avoidant personality disorder, but usually the most effective course is psychotherapy. The nature of this treatment can vary from individual to individual, but one-on-one therapy tends to be the preferred method. Group therapy becomes a more sensible option after a patient has been attending individual therapy for a while, but early on in the therapeutic process, group sessions can be a little overwhelming for someone who is suffering from avoidant personality disorder.
Since avoidant personality disorder greatly affects self-esteem and social interactions, this disorder breeds a general negativity about life, causing the people affected to have difficulty seeing situations in an objective way. As a result, their initial evaluation can suffer since their self-report, including important medical information and life history, could be skewed. Therefore, it is necessary for the mental health professional to be especially sensitive to nonverbal cues to get the most detailed and accurate evaluation as possible.
Once therapy begins, early termination is often an issue. This is because forming a rapport between the therapist and the patient is usually very difficult for someone suffering from avoidant personality disorder. However, once the rapport is formed, the psychotherapy reaches stability and is generally successful.
The quality of the relationship with a therapist can make a huge difference in the effectiveness of treatment. If the therapy is focused on specific, short-term life problem rather than broader issues, such as self-esteem, it tends to build a stronger relationship. This is because self-esteem is something that someone with avoidant personality disorder will deal with for the rest of his or her life, and it is a problem that will likely not be solved during therapy. Therefore, learning instead how to deal with the disorder by discovering new ways to handle certain situations can lead to smaller successes and a more positive outlook on life. If a therapeutic relationship ends on a positive note, then this can open up the possibility for forming new relationships as well.
Medications
As with all personality disorders, medications are sometimes used in conjunction with therapy in order for treatment to be most effective. For avoidant personality disorder, sometimes anti-anxiety medications or antidepressants can help reduce some of the symptoms. However, mental health professionals and their patients must be careful because over-using these kinds of drugs can actually hinder the effectiveness of the psychotherapy treatments.
