Avoidant Personality Disorder Treatment Explained

Getting the right avoidant personality disorder treatment is extremely important as failure to do so can result in the sufferer withdrawing further from active life and can then make it much harder to overcome the condition in the future. As with any kind of disorder there are a number of different treatments that are used by various people and it is important to point out from the very beginning that the one that works best for one person may not work to the same degree for others. The key is to not give up and be willing to try other things in order to get help.

The importance of psychotherapy.

The most popular type of treatment for not only avoidant personality disorder, but disorders in general is psychotherapy. In regard to this disorder there can often be a mixture between both individual as well as group therapy; however, the group aspect is often in the latter stages due to the particular type of disorder that is being discussed. Therapy can make some important breakthroughs for the sufferer, but it is important that it does not go on for too long to prevent them from becoming too dependent on their therapist.

Psychotherapy is often seen as being able to help with short term goals and is focused on helping the sufferer meet certain aims and targets that they have set themselves. It is a great way to help rebuild self-esteem, which is often a problem for someone with this condition, but it should be said that negative thoughts about themselves is something that does require more long term treatment through other types of therapy.

The therapist will often undertake a less obtrusive approach than they would for other disorders due to the very nature of the problem and it has to be said that this particular treatment is one of the most difficult to get the sufferer to in the first place. However, if they manage to get there, then the psychotherapist will guide the person through therapy quietly and slowly as an approach that is deemed to be too aggressive will often result in the person ending the sessions early. This means the relationship with the therapist is key on order to gain some long term benefit from psychotherapy and they must be an expert at identifying small clues in what the sufferer says or does due to them often hiding the true extent of the problem to anybody other than themselves..

The use of medication.

For avoidant personality disorder it is often the case that medication is only used in the most extreme forms and only when other types of treatments have already been tried, but without success. The main types of medications will focus on antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs due to people feeling both anxious and depressed when they suffer from this disorder. However, it should be noted that for some people the medication can often interfere with psychotherapy, which is why it should only really be tried if therapy has largely failed. Doctors are also often reluctant to prescribe medication in a number of instances as it merely masks the issues, but there is no doubt that it can help some people regain control of being able to deal with situations and people.

Self-Help can be an option for some.

Self-help has been shown to help some people; however, the number of people who benefit from this is often very low or it will tend to be short term only. There are self-help groups in existence, but the problem is in getting the person to them from the outset. There is also the problem of them often being in more of a group setting earlier on, which will lead to an increase in anxiety levels and the problems will start all over again. This type of treatment for avoidant personality disorder should certainly be the last one to try if everything else has indeed already failed.

Those are, therefore, the main kinds of treatments for avoidant personality disorder and how they can actually make a difference to the sufferer. By getting treatment there is no reason why the sufferer cannot start to take a more active role in life and enjoy what it brings rather than a feeling of being locked away from the world and the loneliness that it can bring.