Quote:
Originally Posted by A Red Panda
Ok. Starter: I'm diagnosed with bipolar. My T brought up AvPD to me one day. I pretty much refuse to see the psychiatrist as I panic - once he didn't show up or cancel, another time one told me counsellor that he thought I really didn't like him, just things like that.... I pretty much only agree to go if my counsellor thinks I need a discussion about medication. I don't give an option for them to talk or diagnose me the few times I've been at them. So I've never been diagnosed, but my counsellor does think I'm there or at least have a lot of strong features with it. Just telling you that as you asked for diagnosed only.
I've been with my counsellor for 3 years. I still don't open up properly and he only sees me emotional when he absolutely pushes my buttons with topics he knows I don't want to talk about (which means it's what I need to talk about).
I email him sometimes when I've had a meltdown or panic. They are always quite brief, but he's told me that he knows what I'm feeling and thinking a lot more when I've written it out to him. I email so that I can't avoid telling him - I just hit send without rereading what I typed so I can't erase it.
I've also emailed to ask/tell him things based on what we've talked about or something he's said. Sometimes it can take me months to finally bring it up (such as asking about why he thought of AvPD)
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I didn't intend to exclude anyone who has traits of AvPD - glad you posted. Most people who think they have symptoms or signs of AvPD are self-diagnosing and that's not a healthy way to go about things.
Did you actually ask your T (therapist) why he thought of AvPD? If so, did he respond? Many Ts don't want to give out diagnoses, for various reasons. Are you comfortable w/your T? Trust him? Avoidant clients often find it difficult to tell their Ts anything of any depth, mostly because it's hard for them to recall things that relate to emotional issues. But also because they don't want to be criticized or judged, among other things. Sounds to me like you're working on things as you can, which is good.
I wish you well. Working out the problems AvPD clients have is difficult and often takes a lot of time. I hope you'll keep working w/your T.
