Avoidant Personality Disorder
Key points
- Avoidant personality disorder was added to DSM-III (American Psychiatric Association 1980) in 1980 and has a shorter history in the psychiatric literature than most of the other personality disorders.
- The research literature on avoidant personality disorder remains quite sparse, with only a few references available of an empirical nature.
- However, avoidant personality disorder shares many elements with the Axis I disorder social phobia (social anxiety disorder), which also was first defined in DSM-III, as well as with other personality disorders.
- The growing belief is that this personality disorder may be on a continuum with the two subtypes of social anxiety disorder as opposed to a separate Axis II construct.
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Avoidant Personality Disorder Introduction
Suzanne M. Sutherland, M.D.
Avoidant personality disorder was added to DSM-III (American Psychiatric Association 1980) in 1980 and has a shorter history in the psychiatric literature than most of the other personality disorders. The research literature on avoidant personality disorder remains quite sparse, with only a few references available of an empirical nature. However, avoidant personality disorder shares many elements with the Axis I disorder social phobia (social anxiety disorder), which also was first defined in DSM-III, as well as with other personality disorders. The growing belief is that this personality disorder may be on a continuum with the two subtypes of social anxiety disorder as opposed to a separate Axis II construct.
Written and revised by
David Cohen, M.D.
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