DEFINITION:
The phrase “avoidant personality disorder (AvPD)” refers to a mental illness characterized by severe social inhibition and anxiety, feelings of inadequacy or inferiority, and a deep-seated fear of rejection in the context of social and intimate relations. These traits lead patients to avoid feared social contacts, resulting in self-imposed social isolation.
ETYMOLOGY:
The phrase AvPD was introduced by Theodore Millon (1928–2014) in his textbook Modern Psychopathology: A Biosocial Approach to Maladaptive Learning and Functioning, published in 1969.
The English adjective “avoidant” is connected to the noun “avoidance” and the verb “to avoid,” both of which are attested from the fourteenth century. “To avoid” derives, via the Middle English verb avoiden, from the Middle French esvuidier, which was formed by attaching the Latin prefix “ex-,” meaning “out of,” to the verb vuidier, meaning “to empty.”
The Middle French verb “vuidier,” in turn, derives, via the Vulgar Latin adjective vocitus and the related verb vocito, vocitare, meaning “to empty,” from the Classical Latin adjective vacuus and related verb vacuo, vacuare, with the same meaning.
For the etymology of the term “personality,” see the Glossary entry, personality.
For the etymology of the term “disorder,” see the Glossary entry, borderline personality disorder.
DISCUSSION:
Patients with AvPD are hypersensitive to negative evaluation and highly fearful of rejection. The prospect of social rejection or loss of intimate relationships is so painful to these individuals that they prefer being alone to risking interaction with others.
AvPD sufferers often describe themselves using words like “anxious,” “lonely,” and “isolated.” They typically have a strong desire for social interaction and relationships; thus, the avoidance that characterizes AvPD should not be confused with the apathy characteristic of some other mental disorders, such as depression.
However, AvPD patients believe themselves to be socially inept and unattractive to other people. They often describe themselves as “anxious,” “lonely,” and “isolated.” They often fantasize about idealized social and intimate relationships.
AvPD sufferers are preoccupied with their own shortcomings. They often view themselves with contempt, being unable to identify or properly appreciate their own positive features.
Being fearful of rejection, ridicule, or humiliation, individuals with AvPD avoid most social interaction, and may even abandon relationships pre-emptively to avoid rejection.
AvPD affects about the same number of men and women.
The etiology of AvPD is often attributed to emotional neglect during childhood or to rejection by parents or peer groups. However, AvPD may also occur in the absence of these causal factors.