identity vs diagnosis

I think sometimes people confuse their identity with their diagnosis. Actual avoidants have a very strong sense of identity - they know exactly who they are. It's one of the biggest differences between AvPD and BPD, for instance.

I think that's when people get caught up in "the label." It's like they think avoidance is a lifestyle or something. It's not a choice, so that's inaccurate. There isn't some hierarchy of suffering with an official diagnosis on the top.

The diagnosis of AvPD means that you exhibit a defined group of thoughts and behaviors. It's shorthand, a way to categorize people. In a nutshell, that's all the diagnosis really is.

Identity is separate from that completely. Identity is individual, self awareness of who you are. There are not categories of identities.

If they change the diagnostic criteria again and I'm not officially avoidant, I wouldn't change at all. I just wouldn't have the shorthand to say, I'm avoidant; instead I'd have to list all the quirks to my personality. I wouldn't be insulted if the diagnosis criteria changed and it didn't fit me anymore.

On the other hand, that's why self proclaimed avoidants get under my skin. The shorthand doesn't work for them - they don't have all the criteria, or they don't have them consistently, or they add in other 'symptoms' that have nothing to do with the diagnostic criteria. They muddle up the shorthand and render it useless.

I think most avoidants share my experience that I have my own identity, and also I am avoidant, which refers to some aspects of my personality. It's not my whole personality. And it's not my identity, not in whole anyway.

I think being caught up in the diagnosis - including avoiding getting a diagnosis in case you're proven wrong - is a distraction. Because whether you have one or not, you're still the same person. Getting the correct diagnosis narrows your search for treatment so you don't waste time pursuing something that won't help you.

Diagnosis and identity are simply not the same thing.

S U M O W I R A... I'm fixing your typo.

Diagnoses and "IDENTIFING" is not the same thing.

i.e people who withdraw from a situation assume this is Avoidance...when what they are experiencing is the symptoms of depression.

People confuse the name sake (avoidance) as the disorder.

Bingo.
I knew there was something a little off.
Too late to go back and edit...
Thanks