Cluster C personality disorders

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If you were asked to describe a friend’s personality, you might describe them as generally being a creative type, or easy-going but nervous in groups.
Basically, you’re trying to summarize the personal traits that make them who they are—either how they think or how they act.
Sometimes these thought patterns or behaviors which make up a person’s personality can actually be harmful in the sense that they interfere with their day-to-day functioning in their personal life, at work, or in social settings.
If this were the case, we would say that the individual has a personality disorder. The DSM-5, or the diagnostic and statistical manual for mental disorders, the 5th edition, lists ten personality disorders that are split into three different ‘clusters’- referred to as clusters A, B, and C.
These names aren’t exactly descriptive, so to help keep them organized you can remember them as “weird” for cluster A, “wild” for cluster B, and “worried” for cluster C.
These used to be under the category “Axis 2” but that way of organizing isn’t really used anymore. Cluster C personality disorders are the “worried” personality disorders, and they include avoidant personality disorder, obsessive compulsive personality disorder, and dependent personality disorder.
These three disorders can be described as “Cowardly,” “Compulsive,” and “Clingy” to help you remember them, and they all have a genetic association with anxiety disorders.
Ok. So let’s start with avoidant personality disorder, associated with the word “Cowardly.” These individuals are shy, timid, and socially inhibited, with extremely low self-esteem, and see themselves as incapable, inadequate, and undesirable.
These individuals want close relationships with others, but rarely take social risks, and avoid social situations, which makes it hard for them to meet new people.
People with this disorder are also hypersensitive to rejection and negative feedback, becoming even more withdrawn when that happens.
There is overlap between avoidant personality disorders and social phobias, but one key difference is that social phobias tend to be focused on anxiety of specific situations like public speaking or dancing in public, while avoidant personality disorder is defined by an anxiety of social situations more generally.
Alright so next is obsessive compulsive personality disorder, which is where individuals are obsessed with orderliness, perfectionism, and having complete control, as well as rules, details, and schedules.
While this might sound like a great set of attributes, people with this disorder are often inflexible and easily stressed, as well as being surprisingly inefficient because they spend so much time extra time planning and worrying about tasks, rather than simply doing them.
They also tend to be very rigid when it comes to beliefs and moral issues, which leads them to be perceived as very stubborn.
The name ‘obsessive compulsive personality disorder’ or OCPD sounds a lot like ‘obsessive compulsive disorder’ or OCD which is a different disorder with some overlap in symptoms.
OCD is an anxiety disorder where there is a repetition of ritualistic actions, like checking the door over and over again to make sure that it is locked.
The key difference is that OCD is called an ego-dystonic condition because the person wishes that he or she could stop the behavior.
In contrast, OCPD is ego-syntonic meaning that the person is generally happy with how they are and don’t want to change anything about themselves.
That brings us to dependent personality disorder, which is associated with the word “clingy.” These people have an intense fear of separation and rejection, so they tend to overly depend on or ‘cling’ to the relationships they do have.They lack self confidence, and believe that they can’t adequately care for themselves.
They find it nearly impossible to make even simple decisions like what to eat for lunch, and become desperate to hold on to someone who can completely take care of them.
Sadly, these individuals often get trapped in abusive relationships. Now there’s considerable overlap between diagnostic categories for the personality disorders.
For example, people with dependent personality disorder often meet the diagnostic criteria for avoidant personality disorder, and there’s also overlap with personality disorders in clusters A and B as well.
Treatment for Cluster C personality disorders typically includes social skills training and anxiety management. Group therapy can be particularly helpful for these people as well, since provides them with a safe space through which they can practice engaging in different social interactions.
As a quick recap, cluster C personality disorders are split into avoidant personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, and dependent personality disorder.
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