What's the difference??

Hi,

I'm looking for some info, advice, thoughts anything really...

In march this year I was admitted to G ward (psych unit at hospital) in the intake session with the Pdoc he told me the usual ,depression, anxiety, eating disorder and threw a new one into the mix sensory processing disorder.

I stayed did my time and what was asked of me and was discharged. Since then I have been hospitalised on two more occasions.

So today I had a GP app as I had self harmed quite badly over the weekend, I asked my doc what official diagnosis the Pdoc had given me and he looked through all paperwork on intake the Pdoc had said "traits of AvPD" and then in the discharge summery he had written diagnosis: AvPD, other 4....

The question is do I have traits of AvPD or AvPD and if it's just traits is that still a diagnosis of AvPD??

Sorry if this is not very clear I'm a bit rattled and stunned and don't know what to do with this info, thanks for reading and hopefully some advise and answers

Tee

You need to ask someone who is treating you, but traits of a disorder means that you have some of the traits but either not enough for the full criteria or the person making the diagnosis isn't sure yet if you meet the full criteria. Has anyone mentioned autistic spectrum disorders? Sensory processing disorder plus AvPD would describe a lot of the same symptoms as an autistic spectrum disorder (sensory processing disorder is with that group. The AvPD traits are very similar to the other part of ASD.)

My counsellor told me that I have a lot of AvPD traits - in fact I do have all of the DSM IV criteria. It was a relief to hear him say that, because I already knew that about myself.

However - I have traits and not a diagnosis (1 reason at least for this is that I well, won't say much to the psychiatrists as I only need/want any help with the bipolar). It's traits because while I fit alllll of the criteria, it just doesn't seem that way because I don't act like you would expcet someone with AvPD to act. I've retrained a lot of my behaviour, and the behaviours that are still around are well... masked or downplayed, really.

Personality disorders are more something that's well... just you and how you formed, so they're not really something you can ever totally be done with even with medication and therapy. But I've done a pretty good job of retraining a lot of my behaviours on my own over the years.

And I soooooo just went and lost my train of thought. Basically, while I have all the traits of AvPD (it's entirely how my brain works) my behaviours aren't so drastically harming me (because I've been mostly successful and keep pushing myself) so I wouldn't have a diagnosis.

Thanks for your answers I didn't think I would get any. I have an app with T in about an hr and would like to bring this up but not sure if I will, after 18mths we are still doing breathing lol! Actually it's not very funny just plain frustrating.

Breathing? as in grounding exercises? My T keeps trying to get me to read a specific DBT book.... and I hate that book with a passion (I hate the tone used in it) and I'm so utterly hopeless and doing any sort of visualization... (as in, whenever he used to try... I'd crack up laughing because I personally find them ridiculous! Wish they'd work for me, but alas, no!)

Some things just don't work for everyone

Had my app with T and surprise surprise this never came up

A Red Panda yeah I mean grounding exercises I have a tendency to dissociate a lot in session, I guess just another way to avoid the therapeutic relationship! The exercises work really well it's just as soon as T starts talking I'm gone then I hear her voice saying "stay with me feel your feet" and then we work on bringing me back it's so frustrating as I want help I want to get the past sorted deal with the now and plan for a better future, but right now I'm stuck in a vortex of self harm, Sui attempts and complete isolation all the while thinking I don't want to start hard work cos T will just leave!!

Gggrrrrrrrrrrr.....