Avoidant Personality Disorder Analysis

Individuals with this disorder do not simply drift in and out of friendships, but instead show abrupt, frequent and dramatic changes between "intense love and equally intense hate" (Durand 334) in any one relationship. The fluctuations in their mood, involved with their anger; involved with their thought disturbances, and mixed with their paranoid thoughts about betrayal and abandonment by others; as well as their impulsiveness make it difficult to maintain relationships with others.

The storyline of Charlie Brown is focused on a very small social circle of young children. One of the main animated character is Charlie Brown who has various insecurities. The author made a common connection between himself and the character. He was a child who others preyed on and made a mockery out of. The comical was used as an example of a great American un-success story, where the character failed at everything he attempted to do. Charlie Brown was always prone to bad luck.

Antisocial personality disorder is a disregard for others rights and violating theses rights. This disorder starts as a child to people who carry this disorder portray the characteristics of irritability, aggressiveness, lack of remorse, and irresponsibility. A psychopath falls under the umbrella of antisocial personality disorders. A psychopath is a person with a personality disorders which is inherited from their parents at birth. Flashes of these inherited factors show and happen in the child upbringing this includes torture animals at a young age, playing weird dark games as a kid, or ripping heads of toys. A perfect example of a Psychopath is Edmund Kemper. A man who showed his psychopath tendencies at a young age that grew into to him becoming a serial killer.

Personality disorders are included as mental disorders on Axis II of the diagnostic manual of the American Psychiatric Association and in the mental and behavioral disorders section of the ICD manual of the World Health Organization Personality disorders are conditions in which an individual differs significantly from an average person, in terms of how they think, perceive, feel or relate to others. Changes in how a person feels and distorted beliefs about other people can lead to odd behavior, which can be distressing and may upset others There are three recognized personality disorder clusters, cluster A odd and eccentric, Paranoid Personality Disorder Schizoid Personality Disorder Schizotypal Personality Disorder dramatic and emotional, Borderline Personality Disorder Histrionic Personality Disorder Narcissistic Personality Disorder and anxious and fearful Avoidant Personality Disorder Dependent Personality Disorder Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder Personality Disorders: Management

The DSM-5 defines avoidant personality disorder as “A pervasive pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and hypersensitivity to criticism… starting in early adulthood in many contexts” (Hyde 2017a). This is most evident in the passage where Zailckas explains her reasoning for avoiding her hall mates and roommate Wendi. She declares, “I don’t avoid you because I think I’m superior, I do it because I think I’m inferior. I do it because I think you don’t want me, and that lowliness is the reason that I drink, too” (p.

The three main clusters of personality disorders are odd and eccentric behavior, dramatic, emotional or erratic behavior, and anxious and fearful behavior. Cluster A, Odd and eccentric behavior are personality disorders characterized by social awkwardness and social withdrawal. These disorders show a stable pattern of remarkably unusual behavior and are commonly characterized by distorted thinking. An example is Paranoid Personality Disorder which is characterized by a pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of other people. Next cluster B is dramatic, emotional, or erratic behaviors and these disorders are characterized by shared problems with impulse control and emotional regulation. An example is Antisocial Personality Disorder which is characterized by a pervasive pattern of disregard for the rights of other people that often manifests as hostility and/or aggression. Lastly, Cluster C is anxious and fearful behavior and these personality disorders are share a high level of anxiety and represent range of symptoms for abnormal manifestations of apprehensiveness, timid, or frightened behavior. An example is Avoidant Personality Disorder which is characterized by a pervasive pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and a hypersensitivity to negative evaluation. People with this disorder are intensely afraid that others will ridicule them, reject them, or criticize them.

This disorder occurs in most by early adulthood. The unstable pattern of interacting with others has persisted for years and is usually closely related to the person’s self-image and early social interactions. The

Antisocial personality disorder seems to be the underlying source of many other mental disorders. Maybe it is the result of the other disorders or maybe it is the beginning stage of them. Most would think an antisocial personality disorder would mean the person does not like to be in social atmospheres. This is true; however, the antisocial personality disorder is much, much more than just a personal attitude of I do not like other people or being in places with a lot of people socializing. It may not be so much they do not like being in these places; yet, more of they cannot be in these situations. The bad part of this disorder is there really being no real treatment and the few that do seek help and start therapy with medication typically

For my primary diagnosis, I have chosen Social Anxiety Disorder 300.23 (F40.10) with a Z code of Social Exclusion or Rejection V62.4 (Z60.4). I have chosen the Z code of Social Exclusion or Rejection because of the case study symptomatology and certain aspects of details of Nadine’s case. Nadine is afraid of being humiliated and is afraid of going to public places, based off of the strong evidence of her past experiences of being bullied at school. Another possible Z code could be Parent -Child Relational Problem V61.20 (Z62.820) given the criteria of feelings of estrangement and hostility expressed by Nadine toward her mother. She expresses that she does not want to “be anything like her mother”(quoted from case study).

-excessive social anxiety that does not diminish with familiarity and tends to be associated with paranoia.

This type of Anxiety Disorder has a direct correlation relating to social situations. A person experiencing this disorder has a chronic fear of other people’s perceptions of them. They are especially likely to avoid any situation where they are being observed by others such as giving presentations or activities that must be performed in front of an audience, large or small. In extreme circumstances where social anxiety disorder exists, a person will avoid social situations all together and will become a “hermit” in their own individual abode. This disorder is impairing to one’s normal life functioning because it often affects a person’s ability to perform the essential duties in a work environment. It also deters them from engaging in typical conversations because the fear of being embarrassed or judged is so extreme (Fleming, 2012).

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5, American Psychiatric Association, 2013) defines personality disorders as a pattern of internal experience and behavior that greatly differs from what is normally expected in the person’s culture. They are also considered omnipresent and inflexible that is stable and causes both distress and impairment. Antisocial personality disorder is a severe disorder of personality. It is a disorder that helps compromise the dramatic, emotional, or erratic disorders, also known as the Cluster B disorders. The Cluster B disorders are also composed of borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and histrionic personality disorder. The

(Clark & Beck,2010) There is a “marked and persistent fear of social or performance situations in which embarrassment may occur” DSM-IV-TR; APA, 2000, p.450) Social Phobics seem unable to assess friendly facial expressions. (Ballenger,2009) They have an enhanced vigilance to angry faces relative to happy and neutral faces. (Mogg,2004) This affects interpersonal functioning. (Joorman, 2006)

Imagine waking up in the morning, believing that one has the right to do what he wants and take what he can, from whomever and wherever. The day will be filled with callous, deceitful, violent, reckless and endangering acts to which one is immune to the pain others may suffer (Antisocial personality part 1, 2000). This is how a person with anti-social personality disorder behaves daily. In this paper, the topic of Anti-social personality disorder, its definitions, causes, symptoms, and treatments will be discussed.

The avoidant behavior an individual uses creates a lack of a human relationship. The less a person develops a relationship with someone, the more alone they will be. Avoidant behaviors include most of the social anxiety characteristics such as, lack of eye contact, preferred aloneness, and inability to hold a conversation. Claire uses avoidant behaviors such as lack of eye contact and lack of ability to create a relationship with an individual, specifically her roommates. As demonstrated with Claire, she gets invited to social gathering but continues to decline. The more she declines the less her roommates are going to ask her to participate with them, thus the cycle of social