do you suffer from avoidance personality disorder?

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I'm still avoiding voting in the poll.

I've been avoiding this thread.

I don't have social phobia so I cannot have this.

But I avoid difficult situations for another reason. I am afraid of unfamiliar situations - I don't know where to go, what to tell, what the reason is etc. so my mind goes blank. As soon as I know what I am supposed to do or at least I am confident about my reasons I am fine.

Hi felinesaresuperior. I am in the minority group on the poll, as I confront difficult situations with the goal of successful outcomes. One of the core features of avoidance for people (and especially minorities of any kind) is situations where there is a marked imbalance of power. And wherever is there is a large discrepancy in the power each party to an encounter has, the one with less power is more vulnerable to risks. So anxiety and avoidance can occur. Doctors are accorded, and accord to themselves, much more power than they accord to their patients; it is not an egalitarian profession which is known for its willingness to listen and balance differing viewpoints. The medical profession is not known for having and practising in a context of mutual respect. So a lot of the time subtle oppression is going on, even if it is the 'benign 'for your own good' type of oppression. And this kind of oppression is in fact far from benign...

Past experiences of disempowerment and being silenced are powerful antecedents to developing avoidance; it is a kind of conditioned phobia. However it is also counterproductive, as by not exercising what power you do have, you are effectively giving it away to others, to use for or against you; and not everyone will have your best interests at heart (unfortunately) and many professions are self-serving.

Re-finding one's "voice" is an important phase of recovery from this: being listened to and being taken seriously with respect. Being validated as a person with real concerns and integrity of purpose; being supported as you practice and recover the ability to stand up and speak for yourself; becoming your own advocate, with the help of a trustworthy supporter advocate who has the skills which you can be mentored in safely, and practice safely.

These are vital skills in today's world. This is one area in which the more skilled and understanding (often older female) pyschologists can help with; though some are a complete waste of your time, so finding one who is good at this is best done with a lot of inquiry. A poor pyschologist can just impact on and increase the problems and issues.

Reclaiming one's "voice" is an act of personal liberation and a state of power. It is worth exploring, online at first perhaps.

Issues in doctor/patient communication:

http://mindthegapacademy.com/blog/6-sec ... nications/

Very insightful. I hate the medical system. You have described why.

I also don't do well under stress when in person and talking about myself; it's when I don't function well. I am either emotional and so it gets carried away (as always when I am emotional) or I am in a zone where my memory seems to elude me. I think any sort of discussion about 'myself' in general, when done in person, doesn't go well. I noticeably have different 'selves' that I use in different situations, but it seems I must manage to access all of myself when in a medical appointment or else I am giving incomplete or outright wrong information even when prompted specifically with a direct question, but I don't seem able to do that. I am working on this, in general, as it affects my personal life enormously. How it impacts my relationship was/is the motivator such that I even see that I likely have these issues as I describe them.

Never heard of this one before. I'm fairly sure I wouldn't be diagnosed with it; seems to me that only three of the criteria would apply to me, rather than four.

But I don't think I completely understand one of them, the one about limiting your activities due to a need for physical security. For some reason I don't get exactly what they're trying to say here. So I guess it's possible for me to have it, depending on what it is.

I can be pathologically avoidant of things at times, but it is situational, not how my personality is in general. What I have is more like situational or periodic agoraphobia where for a time I just don't want to leave the house or interact with people. At other times I am just the opposite of that though. And I've had a history of being foolhardy about situations that I probably SHOULD have avoided but didn't.