The causes of the condition, which often manifests itself in society, causing a person to feel inadequacy with intense anxiety and fear, often known as shyness in public, are the subject of our article today. The causes of the condition include social phobia, avoidant personality disorder, or both. Although these two disorders, which can be difficult to distinguish both among the public and in the literature, share commonalities, there are also notable differences between them.
What is Shy Personality Disorder?
In this disorder, also known as avoidant personality disorder, a person feels inadequate in the community in which he lives. He may believe that he is incompetent in the field of human relations and position himself in a lower place than others. He thinks that others will criticize him, exclude him from among them. As a result of all this, a person does not want to have a relationship with new people without being sure that they will definitely be loved. He can avoid social environments. He stays away from jobs where he should be in a relationship with people. He does not want to think that other people will make fun of him, criticize him, and even exclude him, and make new starts about his own life, that is, go outside his comfort zone. He even acts cautiously in his close personal relationships because he is afraid that he will be criticized. This condition usually begins in early adulthood and occurs in a wide variety of social situations (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
What is a Social Phobia?
In social phobia, a person again feels intense anxiety in situations where he will be evaluated and his performance will be measured in a society. These situations are meeting new people, making a speech or presentation in front of a crowd, eating at a restaurant, etc. it may be. When a person is in these situations, he feels intense anxiety that others will evaluate him negatively. Due to the negative evaluation of others, a person may be afraid that he will be humiliated, feel intense shame. At the same time, he is also worried that these concerns will be understood from the outside. All these concerns manifest themselves in all the social environments and situations in which a person is present. Because of this, a person does not want to be in social environments in order not to feel anxiety, he does his best to avoid social environments. When he has to be found, he endures the situation by feeling intense anxieties (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
What Avoidant Personality Disorder and Social Phobia Have in Common
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In both disorders, anxiety and fears arise within human relationships and in a social context.
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In both disorders, the person feels intense anxiety, fearing that others will evaluate him negatively.
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In both disorders, the person avoids social environments and meeting new people.
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In both disorders, the anxiety and fear that a person feels when in social environments present themselves with similar symptoms – increased heart rate, sweating, flushing of the face, etc. – it shows.
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Symptoms of two disorders, anxiety and fears are likely to occur in almost all social settings. However, this may not always be the case (Reich, 2010).
The Points where Avoidant Personality Disorder and Social Phobia Differ
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Avoidant personality disorder often occurs in early adulthood, while social phobia occurs during adolescence.
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In social phobia, anxieties are seen in areas where a person will perform, be observed, that is, in front of other people. In avoidant personality disorder, on the other hand, a person feels intense anxiety in almost all social situations.
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In some cases, people with avoidant personality disorder may experience more problems in their relationships than people with social phobia.
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In people with avoidant personality disorder, their level of functionality may be affected more negatively than in people with social phobia (Sayar, Solmaz, Ozturk et al., 2000).
Can the Two Be Seen Together?
It is possible that both ailments can be seen together. In such cases, the functionality of people may be more negatively affected. They may also become more prone to other disorders, such as depression. This may cause these disorders to start at an earlier age. Their social relationships are affected more negatively. They may be more afraid of being criticized and humiliated by others. In short, they may experience the symptoms of both disorders intensely (Sevinçok, Dereboy and Dereboy, 1998).
Social phobia and avoidant personality disorder are two disorders that have a lot in common and are difficult to distinguish in some cases. The common points of both disorders are intense anxiety in social environments, avoidance of meeting new people, entering new social environments, and feeling anxiety and fear. Fear of being humiliated and criticized is also among the common points. Besides, there are some differences. Social phobia refers to anxiety experienced in situations where a person’s performance will be evaluated and observed. Avoidant personality disorder, on the other hand, refers to the intense anxiety and fear that a person experiences in almost all social situations, sometimes even in unfamiliar situations.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5. printing). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596
Reich, J. (2000). The relationship of social phobia with avoidant personality disorder: a proposal to reclassify avoidant personality disorder based on clinical empirical findings. European Psychiatry, 15(3), 151-159.
Counts, K., Solmaz, M., Ozturk, M., Ozer, D. A., & Arikan, M. (2000). Timid personality disorder and its effects on psychopathology in patients with widespread social phobia. Clinical Psychiatry, 3(3), 163-169.
Joy, L., Dereboy, F., & Dereboy, O. (1998). Clinical features and treatment of shy personality disorder. Clinical Psychiatry, 1(1), 22-26.