I've labelled myself as having Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD/SA) for a few years, and have been professionally diagnosed as having SAD, but AvPD really hits the nail on the head.
The essential feature of avoidant personality disorder is pervasive social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and hypersensitivity to being negatively evaluated. Individuals with AvPD avoid work or school activities that involve significant interpersonal contact. They fear criticism, disapproval, or rejection. They frequently describe social and occupational problems and are rarely able to develop a strong social network that can help them in personal crises (DSM-IV-TR).
2004, 'Treating co-occurring disorders: a handbook for mental health and substance abuse professionals', p.73 (Haworth Press)
So, Sufferers of Social Anxiety/Social Phobia do not necessarily suffer from these things?
I certainly do.
In fact, I 100% fit the criteria for AvPD given in both The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders World Health Organization, Geneva, 1992 (F60.6 Anxious (Avoidant) Personality Disorder, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR)) (See also Diagnostic Criteria).
To see "the essential feature['s]" of my mental illness grouped together like that is quite a revelation!
Hello! And, er, welcome to the blogosphere!
ReplyDeleteI was confused for ages over the difference between SA and APD, but instinctively classified myself as APD. Now, having read the diagnostic criteria of each condition over and over, I'm surprised I got them confused! It's weird, how there's a lot of overlap, yet they're distinct conditions.