Post by Mea on Jan 7, 2016 5:35:23 GMT
GAD vs SAD vs AVPD
Oh, look, another post about anxiety! This time, comparing an contrasting the symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, and Avoidant Personality Disorder.
In summary, Generalized Anxiety Disorder can be described as a pervasive, excessive, and sometimes irrational worry and apprehensive expectation about events or activities. It can apply to all sorts of things. Job, school, people, every day activities… If you have GAD, you may also fatigue, headaches, and even anxiety attacks. A complete checklist can be found here. (x)
Social Anxiety Disorder is similar, although it refers to anxiety which persists in social situations. Someone with SAD may worry about how others perceive them, their own personal performance in tasks, and how they come off to others. A complete checklist can be found here. (x)
Meanwhile, Avoidant Personality Disorder… covers all of those things, and then some. Symptoms of AVPD can be more extreme than those seen in GAD or SAD, plus with the classification of a personality disorder comes identity disturbances, difficulty forming and maintaining relationships with others, difficulty controlling impulses, low self-esteem, and more extreme levels of avoidance. A complete checklist can be found here (x)
Many people with AVPD are also diagnosed with SAD. They are similar in that they both involve an aversion to social situations and a general fear of ridicule. However, with AVPD, it can take extremes which affect new and existing relationships. People with AVPD may avoid becoming close to people they already know, or meeting new people at all. Someone with SAD may also be more likely to find a friend in an uncomfortable social situation (such as being at a party and finding someone they know and staying with them) while someone with AVPD may do their best to isolate themselves completely to avoid bothering anyone.
People with AVPD also struggle with low self-esteem, and they may blame themselves for their own anxieties. They may also fantasize about idealized relationships with other people while never actually pursuing relationships. They tend to completely isolate themselves rather than simply avoiding certain events which may cause anxiety.
Another distinctive difference is that SAD and GAD are both Axis I disorders, while AVPD is Axis II. Axis I disorders are ultimately easier to treat, as Axis II disorders are developmental disorders and are a “core,” so to speak, of a person’s being. If you have an Axis II disorder, it is who you are. A personality disorder’s symptoms can be present at a young age and is a developmental disorder. An Axis I disorder could be more like a broken arm, while an Axis II disorder gives you fragile bones to begin with, making you more prone to broken arms (which is why people with personality disorders have so many disorders diagnosed alongside them).
Ultimately, AVPD is more severe and covers a few additional symptoms, and the nature of a personality disorder is different from an anxiety disorder.
-Mea
Oh, look, another post about anxiety! This time, comparing an contrasting the symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, and Avoidant Personality Disorder.
In summary, Generalized Anxiety Disorder can be described as a pervasive, excessive, and sometimes irrational worry and apprehensive expectation about events or activities. It can apply to all sorts of things. Job, school, people, every day activities… If you have GAD, you may also fatigue, headaches, and even anxiety attacks. A complete checklist can be found here. (x)
Social Anxiety Disorder is similar, although it refers to anxiety which persists in social situations. Someone with SAD may worry about how others perceive them, their own personal performance in tasks, and how they come off to others. A complete checklist can be found here. (x)
Meanwhile, Avoidant Personality Disorder… covers all of those things, and then some. Symptoms of AVPD can be more extreme than those seen in GAD or SAD, plus with the classification of a personality disorder comes identity disturbances, difficulty forming and maintaining relationships with others, difficulty controlling impulses, low self-esteem, and more extreme levels of avoidance. A complete checklist can be found here (x)
Many people with AVPD are also diagnosed with SAD. They are similar in that they both involve an aversion to social situations and a general fear of ridicule. However, with AVPD, it can take extremes which affect new and existing relationships. People with AVPD may avoid becoming close to people they already know, or meeting new people at all. Someone with SAD may also be more likely to find a friend in an uncomfortable social situation (such as being at a party and finding someone they know and staying with them) while someone with AVPD may do their best to isolate themselves completely to avoid bothering anyone.
People with AVPD also struggle with low self-esteem, and they may blame themselves for their own anxieties. They may also fantasize about idealized relationships with other people while never actually pursuing relationships. They tend to completely isolate themselves rather than simply avoiding certain events which may cause anxiety.
Another distinctive difference is that SAD and GAD are both Axis I disorders, while AVPD is Axis II. Axis I disorders are ultimately easier to treat, as Axis II disorders are developmental disorders and are a “core,” so to speak, of a person’s being. If you have an Axis II disorder, it is who you are. A personality disorder’s symptoms can be present at a young age and is a developmental disorder. An Axis I disorder could be more like a broken arm, while an Axis II disorder gives you fragile bones to begin with, making you more prone to broken arms (which is why people with personality disorders have so many disorders diagnosed alongside them).
Ultimately, AVPD is more severe and covers a few additional symptoms, and the nature of a personality disorder is different from an anxiety disorder.
-Mea
