SA or AvPD? How to tell?

Scooter

Scooter

Well-known member
Where is the line between social anxiety and avoidant personality disorder?

I was diagnosed with ADHD and social anxiety last year, but I believe the social anxiety may be AvPD. I'm thinking of discussing it with my psychiatrist when I'm there in a few weeks, but I'm a little scared of him and I don't want to make a complete fool of myself or have him think I'm a hypochondriac.

I'm keen to hear your personal opinions on how to tell the difference....
 
Shift

Shift

Well-known member
That's something I've been wanting to bring up with my therapist, but I'm a bit afraid to because I really don't like self diagnosis and I don't think I should be telling her what I think is wrong with me.

If you look at the DSM IV (or the ICD-10 for the rest of the world), it tells you what criteria is used for diagnosing each of them. For me, pretty much every single thing on the list of avoidant personality disorder symptoms seems to fit me. For Social Phobia, only a couple things seem to really describe me. I might have both though.
 
Luthien

Luthien

Well-known member
Personally, I have no idea what I actually have. I don't see a psychiatrist. I see a naturopath and a counselor and I don't feel like I need a name for my condition... Regardless of what one person thinks is "wrong" with me, I'm gonna keep doing the work I'm doing to get better. But I suppose it's important if you're into taking conventional medication (which I'm not)

Your psychiatrist sounds awful! If he's that scary, you might want to find a new one. It took me a long time to find a counselor I liked, and it was awful to have to talk to all these random strangers to find one, but it was so worth it. If you like you psychiatrist and feel comfortable with them, it'll be a lot easier to trust them. Personally, I've never had good experiences with psychiatrists... all the ones I've seen seemed so disconnected from reality. Like they just lived in a big mansion and dispensed pills all day... They were often rude and made little attempt to actually understand me. That's why I see a counselor, she can't prescribe anything so her goal is to help me work through my issues, not to figure out what box I fit in to correspond with what drugs to fill me up with.

All this being said, I know that a lot of people have had good experiences with the psychiatric world and a lot of people are helped by western meds. That hasn't been my experience so while I respect that point of view, it's not mine.
 
Scooter

Scooter

Well-known member
Thankyou Noca, the link was really good and I actually think I fit AvPD better than SA. Especially the fact that it's not limited to certain situations, it's a constant sense that covers everything involving other people.

I guess the question is when is it serious enough to be classified as a disorder? I fit the symptoms, no doubt there. I have one close friend but it's not a deep or meaningful relationship, I dont get along with the majority of my family, I avoid them because of their judgements of me, I avoid social interactions, I've just swapped to online uni because this semester has been so draining. I avoid other people, but because I take meds I'm not as depressed or anxious about it as I normally would be.

I have a counsellor that I've been with for a few years and she is the only person I speak openly with, but then I have to fight with myself to go to the next appointment each time because I'm obsessed with the thought that she dreads seeing me, not that she is ever anything other than accepting and kind, but I keep waiting for her to write me off, it's torturous. But at the same time, she's the only person I have, I look forward to seeing her and dread seeing her at the same time.

The problem is that I have ADHD so I can't tell if my symptoms are related to that or if it could be AvPD. I'm scared to ask my psychiatrist, he's a nice guy but I'm worried he'll think I'm a hypochondriac.

I had a really nasty bout of depression this year and I started Strattera which fixed that but I find that I live with a baseline of anxiety/anger. I don't feel other emotions like other people seem to. It's not that I'm constantly miserable, I'm not, I normally sit in a spot between the two where I'm ok but easily swayed either way. Even depression for me is not sadness, it's anger that's so deep I drown in it, anger at other people for being horrible and anger at myself for being crap.

My kids are 6 & 7, both with ADHD, it's a stressful house! But they're just at the age where they want to socialise and it's really hard, I dont want to have to deal with other parents and I dont want other people in my house, but I cant isolate my kids just because it's easier for me. It's horrible, I'm angry with them for pushing me to have to interact with other people. :p to the whole thing.

Sorry for the rant
 
Luthien

Luthien

Well-known member
Scooter said:
Thankyou Noca, the link was really good and I actually think I fit AvPD better than SA. Especially the fact that it's not limited to certain situations, it's a constant sense that covers everything involving other people.

I guess the question is when is it serious enough to be classified as a disorder? I fit the symptoms, no doubt there. I have one close friend but it's not a deep or meaningful relationship, I dont get along with the majority of my family, I avoid them because of their judgements of me, I avoid social interactions, I've just swapped to online uni because this semester has been so draining. I avoid other people, but because I take meds I'm not as depressed or anxious about it as I normally would be.

I have a counsellor that I've been with for a few years and she is the only person I speak openly with, but then I have to fight with myself to go to the next appointment each time because I'm obsessed with the thought that she dreads seeing me, not that she is ever anything other than accepting and kind, but I keep waiting for her to write me off, it's torturous. But at the same time, she's the only person I have, I look forward to seeing her and dread seeing her at the same time.

The problem is that I have ADHD so I can't tell if my symptoms are related to that or if it could be AvPD. I'm scared to ask my psychiatrist, he's a nice guy but I'm worried he'll think I'm a hypochondriac.

I had a really nasty bout of depression this year and I started Strattera which fixed that but I find that I live with a baseline of anxiety/anger. I don't feel other emotions like other people seem to. It's not that I'm constantly miserable, I'm not, I normally sit in a spot between the two where I'm ok but easily swayed either way. Even depression for me is not sadness, it's anger that's so deep I drown in it, anger at other people for being horrible and anger at myself for being crap.

My kids are 6 & 7, both with ADHD, it's a stressful house! But they're just at the age where they want to socialise and it's really hard, I dont want to have to deal with other parents and I dont want other people in my house, but I cant isolate my kids just because it's easier for me. It's horrible, I'm angry with them for pushing me to have to interact with other people. :p to the whole thing.

Sorry for the rant
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You poor thing! With how hard my experiences have been, I am lucky enough to have two very supportive people in my life and no children. Actually, I want to have children so bad, I think I frighten my boyfriend with how much I talk about it. I know I would be a horrible mother right now, I would be spending all my time trying to get away from my kids...

Really all I wanted to offer for advice it that if you can have confidence in ANYTHING then have confidence that you are NOT a hypochondriac. If you're psychiatrist thinks you are, then he's not a good psychiatrist for you and you can move on. I've found through my own life that there are times when honesty really IS the best policy. If it were me, I would tell my psychiatrist what I'm thinking, I would tell my counselor I'm afraid she dreads seeing me and I would tell my children why I'm acting funny and that I want them to have rich social lives but this is just where I'm coming from.... But that's just me.
 
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lyricalliaisons

lyricalliaisons

Well-known member
From most that I've read, AvPD fits me, much more than social anxiety. The main differences seems to be the fear of judgment/people looking at you parts. Even though I definitely know I have anxiety in social situations, I never had those symptoms & that's what SA is described as. In AvPD, those things are not as heavily emphasized. I've only read one article about AvPD that even mentioned fear of judgment, etc, as part of the criteria. Plus, I was diagnosed with an avoidant personality & not with social anxiety. I've also read that AvPD is a more severe form of social anxiety, so that may be why they seem similar. I think it might be like a scale: shyness first, then social anxiety, then social anxiety disorder, then avoidant personality, then avoidant personality disorder.
 
F

friendchen

Well-known member
I'm not sure if I'm having AvPD or not.. so now I'm asking for advice..
This is my condition..

1.I don't even have a close friend.

2.My family always makes me depress with words like you're ugly, you're bad, you're incapable..etc..(but I don't think I am incapable..though I just hate them)

3.I don't want to interact with people..but not because I feel anxieties around strangers.. I can interact quite normally.. I can go to cafe with a stranger and have a little chat..but inside I don't wanna talk..

4.I seriously want to talk to certain people..looking forward to meet them and have a little chat..and feel happy at the thought that they like me.. but I'm also afraid that I would annoy them..and dreaded that they would break the relationship..and I often think of staying away from them coz I feel that they don't like me and they're just being polite...and I'm over-consious of what they think of me and feel ashamed..

5.But i must say that I never have anxiety symptoms like a SA.. I just don't feel a thing in interacting with people.. I'm not shy..not get excited..but just don't care about the communication..don't wanna be talking..don't wanna smile or laugh when I don't feel like doing it..that's all..

So do you think I'm having AvPD??? I think I have mild AvPD..but I don't think I'm having SA..I just wanna make sure of my condition..
 
F

friendchen

Well-known member
bigrob said:
I was diagnosed as schizoid.

My therapist said the biggest difference is people with AvPD would like to be able to socialize while schizoids are fine with not socializing.

Schizoid personality disorder - MayoClinic.com
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Now I'm thinking that I'm schizoid.. :D

Yes..I'm fine without socializing but I would like to have a close friend..don't even want two though.. That's the schizoid thing right?

I would like to know more about schizoid plz :)

PS..I don't think I'm a real schizoid though..as I've read from your link..the symptoms are severe..but mine aren't that bad..
 
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bigrob

bigrob

Well-known member
friendchen said:
Now I'm thinking that I'm schizoid.. :D
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Yeah, you need to be careful about Psychology student syndrome....that's when you study something and start believing you have it, even if you really don't. It's best to let a professional diagnose you. I knew I had something wrong but wasn't sure what.

I would like to know more about schizoid plz :)
Click to expand...

Basically we just prefer being alone, don't look for interaction, and have blunted emotions.

Schizoid Personality Disorder

Schizoid personality disorder: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

Schizoid personality disorder - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
F

friendchen

Well-known member
bigrob said:
Yeah, you need to be careful about Psychology student syndrome....that's when you study something and start believing you have it, even if you really don't. It's best to let a professional diagnose you. I knew I had something wrong but wasn't sure what.



Basically we just prefer being alone, don't look for interaction, and have blunted emotions.

Schizoid Personality Disorder

Schizoid personality disorder: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

Schizoid personality disorder - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback :)
 
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