Recognizing the Symptoms of Avoidant Personality Disorder
Avoidant personality disorder is a condition that affects the mental health in various ways. Most people who have this particular personality disorder suffer from an inability to accept rejection, they are shy and they tend to have low self-esteem. While the causes of avoidant personality disorder are not necessarily distinct, the symptoms of avoidant personality disorder are relatively simple to recognize.
Low Self-Esteem
Avoidant personality disorder will generally cause an individual to feel as if he or she is unworthy or is inadequate. According to Medline Plus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, “people with avoidant personality disorder cannot stop thinking about their own shortcomings.” This low self-esteem contributes to an array of complications in relationships and social life for the individual.
Sensitive to Rejection
People with avoidant personalities are typically very shy, and this shyness has a big effect on their lives.
This disorder causes the individual to have a moderate to severe sensitivity to rejection. The individual with avoidant personality disorder will have trouble accepting rejection and may even react in a bold way to the rejection. Many will hold back and do their best to avoid personal relationships or intimate relationships in order to prevent the risk of being later rejected by someone that they opened up to.
Shyness
As a result of the sensitivity to rejection, most people who suffer from avoidant personality disorder will show symptoms of shyness as well as their sensitivity. Many are reluctant to be involved with others and do not have much of a social life for fear of rejection. Shyness is one of the most common symptoms of avoidant personality disorder but it’s not a surefire symptom; what this means is that people who are shy are not guaranteed to be suffering from avoidant personality disorder but if they are shy, avoid others and have a moderate sensitivity to rejection then avoidant personality disorder may be to blame.
Over Dramatic
Most people who have this disorder will dramatize every situation making it seem like a bigger problem than it actually is. Avoidant personality disorder symptoms often include making seemingly small or minor problems out to be a big or major deal. Most will avoid others in an effort to prevent such situations from arising and will do what they can to stay away from social involvement so as to avoid any situation that they may mistakenly over-dramatize.
Social Ineptness
Feeling socially inept is another one of the more common symptoms of avoidant personality disorder. People who suffer from this condition will feel as if they don’t do good in social situations and as if they maybe are unworthy of being in social situations. Their mindset will be stuck in a pattern of believing that they shouldn’t be involved socially.
