Ab Ovo - The Psychology Podcast

Personality disorders - Custer C (avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive)

In this episode, I talk about Cluster C personality disorders, which include avoidant personality disorder, dependent personality disorder, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.

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Duration:: 23m
Broadcast on:: 28 Jul 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

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Hello guys, welcome to the third and final episode about personality disorders. And this time, we're gonna tackle cluster C. Let's go. Hello and welcome again to the third episode from three episodes serious about personality disorders. And in this final episode, I'm gonna talk about group C or cluster C. Personality disorders, which are circling about anxiety. If you're not familiar with anxiety in general, I have to send you to my previous episode on anxiety itself. It's an episode in which I explain what anxiety is and what different forms of anxiety are. And if you're not familiar with personality disorders, you can also jump to the first episode from this series, which is about group A, cluster A personality disorders, but in the intro, I explain what personality disorders are. And in this episode, I will focus specifically on cluster C personality disorders. Cluster C includes three disorders, avoidant personality disorder, dependent personality disorder, and obsessive compulsive personality disorder. Starting with avoidant personality disorder, this condition is characterized by pervasive pattern of social inhibition and hypersensitivity to negative evaluation. So individuals with this disorder often feel inadequate in social situations and experience significant discomfort when exposed to social interactions. As you might imagine, this fear frequently leads to isolation and avoidance of relationships. Hence the term avoidant personality disorder reflects their tendency to evade situations that might cause discomfort or distress. And you might wonder about the difference between avoidant personality disorder and social anxiety disorder, as they seem quite similar. Well, the key distinction is that people with social anxiety disorder usually experience distress related to specific social situations, such as public speaking, meeting new people, or maybe eating in public. In contrast, avoidant personality disorder involves a more generalized fear and anxiety. And this fear and anxiety, they affect most areas of life. So individuals with avoidant personality disorder have a chronic fear of rejection and disapproval that is not tied to specific events, but is pervasive and very general. So they experience a deep sense of inadequacy and a profound sensitivity to rejection. On the other hand, people with social anxiety often focus more on the fear of embarrassment from specific incidents, such as dropping something or spilling water rather than a broader sense of inadequacy. A very characteristic symptom of avoidant personality disorder is high sensitivity to criticism. So individuals with this disorder are highly sensitive to any form of negative feedback, whether it is explicitly negative or merely perceived as such. And even neutral or well-intentioned comments can be interpreted as negative and deeply heartful, leading them to feel humiliated by these perceived slides. So for example, if you interact with someone who has avoidant personality disorder and you offer advice, or suggest suggesting they be careful with your car if they are borrowing it, they might interpret this as a personal criticism of their driving skills, despite your intention to offer helpful advice due to specific characteristics of the car that may make it difficult for someone unfamiliar with it. They may perceive it as a remark about their abilities and take it very personally. And there is a paradox associated with avoidant personality disorder. As mentioned earlier, individuals with this disorder tend to avoid social interactions due to their fear of rejection and embarrassment. However, despite their avoidance, they often have a strong desire for close relationships. They want to build friendships, find romantic partners, and have fulfilling social connections. And this desire for relationships contrasts with the experience of individuals with cluster A personality disorders, who also avoid social interactions but generally do not wish to engage in them. In clusters C, however, people avoid social interactions because of their fear, yet they deeply wish to form and maintain these connections. And I recall meeting a patient with avoidant personality disorder during my internship. She was a young woman, she was around 25 years old, who had recently finished her studies. And she described a long story of avoidance behavior dating back to early childhood. For instance, she avoided school gatherings, she skipped her prom, and often declined invitations to family events such as birthdays or barbecues. And this pattern of avoidance had been a consistent feature of her life. And she saw therapy because she felt intensely lonely, and she desired relationships and social interactions because she literally, when she had a problem, she couldn't call anybody but her mom. So she wanted to have someone, but her overwhelming fear prevented her from pursuing them. And although the exact causes of personality disorders are not fully understood, she identified a possible contributing factor. So she explained that as an only child, her parents were highly protective. They discouraged her from attending gatherings meticulously screened her friends. And they insisted on accompanying her or having her call them frequently when she was out. By frequently, I mean, she had to call them every hour or every two hours. And she had to inform what she's doing, who's with her, where she is and so on. And while this background may not fully explain her avoidant personality disorder, it may provide some insight into why she develops such intense fears about social interactions. A second personality disorder in Cluster C is called Dependent Personality Disorder. And as the name suggests, individuals with this disorder exhibit excessive dependence on others. They rely heavily on others to meet their emotional and physical needs and often lack confidence in their ability to care for themselves or make decisions independently. A stark example that comes to mind is a mother who might excessively rely on her children to the point of interfering in their relationships to keep them close. So this can be a mother who is deliberately ruining relationships of her children because she fears that they would leave them. So while this example is extreme, it illustrates the essence of Dependent Personality Disorder, a pervasive need for constant support and presence of others. And people with Dependent Personality Disorder not only perceive themselves as incapable of self-care but also defer decision-making to others, whether it concerns everyday choices like what to eat or significant life decisions. And they often avoid expressing disagreement or discomfort with those they depend on for fear of losing their support or approval. And this can lead them to do or to stick to things they don't agree with or they find uncomfortable, sometimes even remaining in abusive relationships due to their overwhelming fear of rejection and abandonment. And a common pattern seen in this disorder is what I refer to as a deeper relationship. So this term describes the tendency of individuals with Dependent Personality Disorder to quickly seek out new relationships as soon as previous ones end. And this urgency can result in forming new relationships as often without sufficient consideration, which you probably can imagine this, which can negatively impact the quality of this relationship. And the final Personality Disorder in Class C is Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder. And this condition is characterized by a pervasive pattern of preoccupation with order lines, perfectionism and control. And it is super important to distinguish Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. And Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is often referred as OCD. And this is super important to distinguish them as the similar names can be confusing. So now Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder involves a chronic focus on order lines, perfectionism and control that affects many aspects of the individual's life, including work, including relationships, including daily functioning. And individuals with Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder are excessively conscientious, detail-oriented and they are often perfectionistic. They adhere rigidly to rules, and I mean really rigidly. They adhere to moral codes, to standards, and they may exhibit inflexibility in their thinking and behaviors. So when there are rules, the rules must be obeyed, there's no other way. And in contrast, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, so OCD involves experiencing intrusive unwanted thoughts, images or arches or obsessions, and engaging in repetitive behaviors or mental acts, which are compulsions. And they are performed in, I mean, compulsions, they are performed in response to obsessions. So the compulsions are intended to reduce distress or prevent a feared event, even if there is no realistic connection between the action and the feared outcome. And common compulsions include hand washing, accounting or other repetitive behaviors. And when I say there's no realistic connection between the actions and the feared outcome, I mean the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder also circles around fear and anxiety, but this anxiety is very general. And people sometimes may experience intrusive thoughts, these thoughts causes distress or maybe even distress isn't the best word, but these thoughts might cause some kind of tension and compulsions, so hand washing, counting and so on, are used to ease the tension. And while both disorders involve elements of compulsiveness and preoccupation, Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder is defined by its pervasive personality-wide traits related to control and order, whereas Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is marked by specific distressing obsessions and compulsions. So individuals with Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder are excessively concerned with details, rules, lists, order, schedules and so on. And this preoccupation can lead them to focus on my new details to the detriment of understanding the broader context. For example, if a medical student had Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder, they might become fixated on the anatomy of one part of the body, such as the forearm, and struggle to move on to studying other areas. And people with Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder often find it difficult to tolerate jobs or activities that are not rigidly scheduled, and they dislike unexpected changes or additional tasks which were not assigned previously. So they couldn't control their schedule, their daily schedule. When they plan to eat dinner at 3.50, the dinner must be at 3.50, it can't be at 3.25 or it can't be at 4.10. Now, if they plan it, they must do it at the time. And when planning a trip, for instance, they might find it nearly impossible to deviate from their detail, or act spontaneously. They have a strong need to control their environment and relationships, which can contribute to work in holism, and of course negatively impact their family life and personal relationships. But despite these challenges, patients with Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder often excel in roles that require meticulous attention to details, such as accounting or jobs involving thorough inspection of small details. So although Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder, my hinder family life and personal relationships, this can be a great feature if a company is looking for a very detail-oriented employee without too much communication with other employees. Because as I told you, these people might have trouble changing their schedule, but if daily tasks can be scheduled, these people are great employees. And that's all about personality disorders from Cluster C. And at the same time, that's all about personality disorders. Of course, I encourage you to rate the show or drop me a comment. And if you wish, you can also write me a message. I'd be very happy to read what fields of psychology strikes interesting to you. Thank you for listening, and until next time, bye-bye. We all belong outside. We're drawn to nature, whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze off to, or the succulents that adorn our homes. Nature makes all of our lives, well, better. Despite all this, we often go about our busy lives removed from it. But the outdoors is closer than we realize. With all trails, you can discover trails nearby and explore confidently. With offline maps and on-trail navigation, download the free app today and make the most of your summer with all trails. [music] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [silence] [music] Is your vehicle stopping like it should? Does it squeal or grind when you break? 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