INTRODUCTION:

Avoidant personality disorder (AVPD) is a complex mental disorder in which a person is very sensitive to social gatherings. He avoids people as much as he can. They have a chronic feeling of inadequacy and excessive sensitivity to rejection, which makes their lives hell. We are all social beings, and it is impossible for us to isolate ourselves. They are very quiet; in other words, they use it to avoid people as much as they can. This influences their professional lives because they hate to interact with people, due to which they aren’t able to maintain a good bond with their office colleagues and lag behind in terms of professional life. They have a fear of mockery and judgement and are usually shy, for which they lack the social skill set of public speaking. AvPD can be caused by the interplay of genetics, environment, psychology, and other factors. They all play a vital role in human upliftment. The cause is still unknown, but it is believed that all these mentioned factors have impacted the person’s life. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is very effective for patients because it helps to find out the cause of the disease. In this way, they learn how to tackle the social environment and adjust among human beings.

CAUSES:

The cause is still unknown, but there are many factors that affect the person and make him affected by this disease. This mental illness is complex because we think it is ok to be shy, but in reality, it affects a person in their professional and personal lives.

Genetic Factors: AvPD affects people who have a family history. This disease runs from family to family, and it has been shown that there is a genetic link between genes and this mental illness.

Environmental Factors: Childhood trauma, domestic violence, poor self-esteem, and poor self-image infected the person with this disease. Poor social interactions in the early life of the child can also impact its social skill set.

Temperamental Factors: Individuals who exhibit excessive shyness or social anxiety are more prone to this disease.

Social learning: adopting unfavourable self-beliefs like I am not able to talk to the new person. This mentality can bless a person with this disease.

Neurobiological Factors: AvPD may be caused by abnormalities in brain structure and function. The areas that are related to problem solving, emotion,emotion and decision-making are affected by this disease.

symptoms:

AvPD patients usually avoid people and have been seen to be very shy from the start. They try their level best to avoid people.

Social Aversion: People with AvPD are always shy and try to avoid people as much as they can. They avoid talking to new people and hate social interaction.

Dread of Rejection: They are sensitive to rejection. They have the fear of being tagged and judged by other people.

Low self-esteem and self-image are the two key factors that affect a person’s social and personal lives.

People with AvPD often have a small number of close relationships because they hate to connect with new people. They are very happy in their small group.

Isolation: They isolate themselves in order to avoid people. In social gatherings, they love to sit alone and try to be seen busy on their phones.

Physical Symptoms: In social gatherings, they show symptoms of anxiety, excessive stress related to the event, and how people will perceive him.

Occupational Impact: AvPD may prevent a person from advancing in their job. People could shy away from job openings or promotions that require social engagement.

Hypersensitivity to Criticism: They are very sensitive to rejection or criticism; they don’t know how to be diplomatic in social gatherings. They could relive social situations in their brains and get fixated on perceived slights.

Reluctance to Take Risks: People who are avoidant tend to be reluctant to take chances or attempt new things because they are afraid of failing or seeming foolish.

TREATMENT:

To treat avoidant personality disorder (AvPD), there is no medication that directly makes a person a normal person. Psychotherapy is the mainstay of treatment. The following are crucial aspects of AvPD treatment:

Behavioural Cognitive Therapy (CBT): CBT is a frequent therapy strategy for AvPD. This technique helps people have a good bond with other human beings. This therapy reveals the true cause of this disease and helps a person overcome their fear of social gathering.

Exposure Therapy: It helps people to be exposed to the social gathering through which a patient feels comfortable in the social gathering. It helps people build confidence and resistance to social events.

Social skills training: This was aimed at giving confidence to people with AvPD. It helps them build critical assertiveness in social gathering. They established their capacities for being the best in social events and tried to act as a normal person.

Group Therapy: Group therapy helps people feel very comfortable in social gatherings. It aimed to give confidence to the people suffering from this terminal illness.

Medication: Although medication is not the main therapy for AvPD, people with this mental illness are at risk of developing other mental illnesses, so it is recommended to have medication along with therapies.

Supportive Therapy: Individuals with AvPD receive emotional support and direction from supportive therapists.

CONCLUSION:

Avoidant personality disorder (AvPD) is a complex mental health condition in which a person ignores or seeks to ignore other people in a social setting. He tried his level best to be isolated from social events. This avoidance makes him suffer in both his professional and personal lives. It is impossible for a human to not connect with another human being. The symptoms of this disease are to avoid people as much as they can. The causes are still unknown, but genetic, environmental, and psychological factors play their part. Effective management of AvPD requires early intervention and individualised care.