I suppose it makes sense. I have no close friends and I completely avoid social situations unless I have to be in them. It would explain why I always feel like the center of (negative) attention in any given room, or why I always feel like I'm annoying people or that I sound smug.

The doctor told me people with AVPD often have trouble understanding who they are as a person, and can't latch onto specific identities, but I haven't thought about that much. The pamphlet and stuff I'm reading online also seems to suggest AVPD has such overlap with social/general anxiety they're almost the same thing.

Anyone else have experience with this?

  • bigboopballs [he/him]
    ·
    1 year ago

    for me I think it’s more depression, anxiety, and prior trauma that causes my poor self-esteem than a personality disorder.

    same.

    more I read up on this stuff, I feel like it’s less like distinct things and more like a bunch of overlapping Venn diagrams

    also same. can't afford to go therapist shopping though. too traumatized/mentally ill to work --> can't afford therapist --> too mentally ill to work or afford therapy, vicious circle.

    The 4/5 R’s on handling obsessive/intrusive thoughts (recognize it’s happening, relabel it as unwanted/delusional/intrusive/whatever label is helpful, reattribute to symptoms of your mental illness, refocus your task/thinking, reappraise the thought later when you are in a safe place).

    where did you learn about this?

    • FourteenEyes [he/him]
      ·
      1 year ago

      It's a common technique for handling OCD and anxiety https://www.hope4ocd.com/foursteps.php