avoidant personality disorder

n. The avoidant personality disorder is one of the 10 personality disorders described on Axis-II of the DSM-IV-TR, published by the American Psychiatric Association as their official diagnostic and descriptive nomenclature of mental disorders. The avoidant personality disorder is characterized by a pervasive pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and hypersensitivity to negative evaluation, starting by early adulthood and manifested in a variety of contexts. Central to the notion of personality disorders (in general) is that they are inflexible, maladaptive, and persisting and cause significant functional impairment or subjective distress. The avoidant personality disorder seriously affects social and professional functioning.

Symptoms (DSM-IV-TR) are (a) avoidance of interpersonal activities due to fear of rejection and criticism; (b) unwillingness to get involved with people, except when certain of being liked and accepted, and as a result often being isolated; (c) preoccupation with criticism or rejection in social situations; (d) feelings of inadequacy in new social situations manifested in inhibitedness and social fear; (e) feelings of inferiority, of being personally unappealing, and of social isolation; and (f) reluctance to take personal risks or to engage in any new activities, fearing embarrassment. Individuals have to display four or more of these symptoms in order to be diagnosed as avoidant.

The prevalence rate for avoidant personality disorder is estimated to be less than 1% in community samples, and about 10% in individuals consulting mental health services. Avoidant personality disorder is diagnosed equally frequently in males and females.

-FDF