January 27, 2026 ⢠19 mins
In this episode of the Personality Couch Podcast, licensed clinical psychologist Doc Bok unpacks the historical context of Avoidant Personality Disorder (APD), exploring the ongoing debate about its classification in the DSM. This episode discusses the contributions of Theodore Millon, the controversies that arose during the introduction of APD, and the implications of trauma and sociopolitical culture on personality development. The episode concludes with proposing alternative classification systems, including the Enneagram, the psychodynamic phobic character, and avoidant personality as a problematic trait versus a disorder.
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Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Avoidant Personality Disorder 02:32 Millon, the DSM, and Controversy 05:47 The 1960s & Personality Development 09:37 Avoidant Traits, Trauma, & Alternative Views 18:08 Summary & Conclusion
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(00:00):
Welcome to the Personality Couch podcast,
where we discuss all thingspersonality and clinical practice.
I'm your host, Doc Bok,and I'm a licensed
clinical psychologist inprivate practice.
My co-host, Doc Fish, isout this week, so
I'm flying solo to bring you this special
living room session as we continue ourAvoidant Personality series.
(00:22):
In this episode, I takea critical look at
the historical controversysurrounding avoidant
personality disorder as a DSM diagnosis,
and I also propose an alternateway to think
about this unique personality.
And importantly, I'll answer the question,"Did the DSM get it wrong?"
(00:44):
So without further ado, let's dive in.
Avoidant Personality Disorder was
introduced fairly late in thegame, so if we look at
the other personality disorders, we can
actually trace them back notonly to the DSM I and
II, but sometimes even earlier,like prior to
1900s or even as far backas ancient Greece
(01:05):
or ancient Egypt, like with histrionicpersonality specifically.
But then there's avoidant personality.
So avoidant wasn't considered to be a
separate personality at first,since its traits were
conceptually part of schizoidpersonality.
However, Dr. Theodore Millon separatedthe two in 1969.
(01:28):
This makes avoidant thelatest personality
in the DSM to be coined byfar, and there's
still debate on whether or not it shouldbe a separate personality disorder.
Regardless, avoidant personality disorder
did make its way into theDSM III in 1980, in
large part because Millonwas on the DSM task
(01:50):
force that decides what diagnosesgo in and
which don't.
So the task force decided thatschizoid would be
split up into avoidant, schizoid,and schizotypal
personality disorders.
So while all three of these personalitiesinclude a
focus on social withdrawal,avoidant personalities
(02:11):
move away from others dueto hypersensitivity
to rejection, even thoughthey actually desire
relationships.
In contrast, the schizo-oriented
personalities are more passivelydetached in relationships
and don't necessarily have thoseovert rejection fears.
But let's move on to the controversy aboutavoidant even being in the DSM.
(02:38):
When avoidant came on thescene in the DSM
III in 1980, I imagine a lotof the field of
psychology was shocked becauseit hadn't really
been widely accepted as a disorderin the field.
So shrinks started comingout of the woodwork,
sharing their thoughts inargumentative letters
to Millon and others in the DSM task force,basically going like, "Wait a minute.
(03:02):
Wait a minute.
What is this?"
I'll give you a few entertainingexamples.
It seems to have started with Livesleyand colleagues in 1985.
Basically their argument is that avoidantpersonality is Millon's theory alone.
Millon seemed to come up with thisconclusion in isolation.
(03:23):
And in the DSM III, avoidant personalitywas deficits-based.
So having a deficits-based model for
personalities is a problem becausehow do you describe a
personality by what it lacksinstead of what it is?
And then they pulled Gundersoninto it, who
also was a major personalitytheorist at the
(03:44):
time who basically said, "We have no real
research to back this up,and the field has
not widely accepted it as apersonality disorder.
This is your hair-brain theory, Millon."
And then, of course, there'ssnarky remarks
from Millon in these lettersback and forth.
And he basically said, indifferent words,
(04:05):
"Y'all weren't on the taskforce, so you're
not privy to my special secret research
knowledge," which honestly, thisdoesn't make any sense,
right?
Because you don't keep researchunder a bushel.
Like that's ridiculous.
And I think that's their pointin these arguments.
They're going like, "How did this happen,and where did this research come from?"
(04:29):
Okay, but let's talk aboutAkhtar real quick
because he was another reallyprominent personality
figure and you actually might recognizehim for his work on narcissism.
So Akhtar called out thefact that we have
essentially ignored psychoanalytic theory
and he proposed that avoidant personalityis a phobic character.
(04:51):
So what is a phobic character?
Real quick, an anxious avoidant or phobic
personality is an anxiety-riddenand timid
person who needs to feel safe but instead
believes they are in constantdanger and must
avoid it, which sounds a littlelike an avoidant, right?
The avoidant that we know today.
(05:13):
So Akhtar was unique because he actually
agreed that there was somethingthere with avoidant
personality, but he thought that it wasjust in the wrong category.
And interestingly, it seems like our
listeners and viewers have differentopinions too.
So we put out a poll on YouTube, and itseems there's a mix of views as well.
(05:34):
So some said, "Yep, it's a personalitydisorder."
Others are like, "No way, not a chance."
And then others are kind of skepticalbut can't really say.
So our opinions are mixed.
So just like the early researchers.
But let's move on to the context ofwhen avoidant was coined.
This historical context to meis the most fascinating.
(05:56):
So let's remember that Millon officially coinedavoidant personality in the 1960s.
Way late, right?
So the 1960s is a really, really interestingsnapshot in history.
And I'm wondering if avoidantpersonality was
pushed into the DSM-III as apotential diagnosis
(06:17):
because of the zeitgeist of the time.
So let's start globally.
Let's take a peek at this.
World War II had just endedin 1945, which
meant we were in survival mode for a long
time, right?
And then also the worldorder is changing.
There's heightened polarizationacross the globe.
(06:37):
The Vietnam War is happening.
The Cold War is also looming large with
the threat of being nuked,kind of hanging in
the air.
Boomers are born or comingof age, right?
And then let's, let's zoom ina level to the U.S.
So in America, the 1960swere for many kind
of initially filled with hopeof new promises
(06:59):
that really never materialized.
Our president JFK was assassinated in 1963,just two years after taking office.
It was the height of the civil rightsmovement in America.
And in 1963, MLK also gave his famous"I Have a Dream" speech.
The Civil Rights Act waspassed in 1964, but
(07:20):
by 1965, the states becamemore deeply involved
in the Vietnam War.
And people were getting feistybecause reform
wasn't happening as quicklybecause essentially
those finances were goingtowards the war.
So there were constant riots aboutthe war, about race.
And then also we have activists that were
(07:41):
galvanized to stand up forcivil rights in
this time.
And one of those activists, Martin LutherKing, was assassinated in 1968.
And then we have 1969.
Not only did we land on the moon, but
Millon's book came out aboutavoidant personality.
So he would have been writing it in maybe
like 1968, possibly 1967,conducting research
(08:05):
probably in this decade.
And then we also have in 1969, Nixon, oneof the most paranoid leaders America has
seen, was elected as president in 1969.
So multiple theorists have actually said
he's a paranoid personalitystructure, which is
a disintegration of avoidant personality,
(08:26):
according to Millon, and thesevere psychotic
organization of a phobic character, accordingto Psychodynamic and McWilliams.
Isn't that fascinating?
So we do have a whole series on paranoid
personalities if you findthat interesting,
which I will link in the shownotes and on YouTube.
Anyway, anyway, back to Nixon.
(08:47):
Nixon is interesting becausewe often elect a
leader that is a representationof ourselves.
Oof, this is a really scarythought, right?
But this, this here is my point.
So it's as if Millon in 196-whatever,
looked outside his window andwas like, oh, look,
(09:08):
like these types are everywhere.
It's raining, anxious people!
So conveniently, the people he needed to
justify his lone wolf researchwere right outside.
And I'm curious, if you'rea boomer, do you
identify with being a littlemore anxious,
hypersensitive about rejection?
(09:31):
And do you have some of theseavoidant traits?
Let us know in the comments if so.
Okay, so here's my thoughts.
I've actually read Millon's research
arguments and on one hand, hedoes make a fair point.
He was able to trace avoidant personality
to other names in history,like the passive
(09:51):
autist, so not autistic, but kind of...so autist, passive autist.
Does that make sense?
So that was coined by Kahn in 1931, or the
wistful outsiders describedby Menninger in
1930.
So these types were very fearfuland anxious.
(10:11):
But again, the major lineof thought at that
time put this fearful characterin line with
schizoid saying that theyare one in the same.
So I agree here that Millon waspicking up on something.
Like there was a distinct fearful, low
self-esteem filled characteristicthat was popping up
(10:33):
with some of the early research.
And I do agree that this fearful characteris different from schizoid and shouldn't
be lumped together with it.
The issue that I have isthat Millon seemed
to single-handedly takedifferent theories
and then say, let's make a personality
category out of this withoutsufficient research.
(10:57):
Now remember, the DSM is not the only waythat we categorize personality.
There are really many, many othertheories and typologies.
So the DSM just captures disorder level.
To my point, I think Millon was picking up
on something unique, butdoes it belong in
the DSM?
(11:18):
So where would I put avoidant?
Okay, here we go.
So I'm starting to think thatavoidant is a trait.
So similar to narcissismin that way, it can
be overdone and become onewith the psyche,
making it a personality issue.
But I don't necessarily see it as a
(11:40):
standalone personality disorderanymore theoretically.
Because one of my major critiques is that
avoidant overlaps with a lotof other personality
disorders in the DSM.
And you can see these avoidant traits in
borderline personality for one, intheir push-pull dynamics
(12:00):
and their hypersensitivity.
And then you can also see it in the
paranoid personality with theirfear-based approach
to life.
And for schizoids, avoidant personality
could be what's inside theirturtle shell, though
it doesn't have to be.
So maybe some personalitiesare more prone to
having that volume turned upon this hypersensitive
(12:24):
fear, but others, not so much.
And then also maybe entire cohorts that
endure times of upheaval andunrest are more prone
to these traits too.
So I'm also wondering if trauma canactivate this trait even more.
And with that, it makesme wonder if those
(12:45):
coming of age in this pandemicand post-pandemic
world would also have somemore avoidant traits.
However, I have diagnosedit clinically, and
I've seen presentations thatdo seem to check
the DSM boxes.
That avoidant part of thepersonality seems
to be at the forefront ofthe individual's
(13:07):
issues, right?
So we can still see that.
We can still diagnose that.
But in my experience, itdoes make me want
to see what else is under the hood of the
psyche, so to speak, along with avoidant
versus just calling avoidantthe main event and
then saying, thank you, have a nice day.
So in other words, avoidant in my experienceseems to have a buddy.
(13:30):
This means there's often another personalitysomething going along with it.
In treatment and therapy specifically,I'd be
asking like, what purpose isthis hypersensitivity
serving?
Like how is it being reinforcedand what is
it working together with tomake relationships
difficult?
(13:51):
Is it protecting depression?
Is it keeping others at arm's lengthdue to unresolved trauma?
Is there a borderline push-pulldynamic underneath?
Like there are so, so many possibilities.
And I also think if we moveaway from the DSM
and disorder level categories,the Enneagram
classification system does have a pretty
(14:13):
spot on description of avoidantcharacteristics
in the Enneagram type 6, whichis very fear-based.
So this hypervigilant personality is in
need of security and guidanceand really starts
to look a lot like this avoidantcharacter that Millon coined.
(14:34):
For those of you who expressed interest inthe Enneagram series, we do hear you.
We're trying to figure outwhat that would
look like since that is liableto be a huge
series.
Like we're talking six months, maybea year's worth of content.
So we hear you.
We're still working it outon the background.
My last thoughts.
(14:54):
Okay, here we go.
So I do have to hand it to Millon for
splitting up avoidant and bringingit to light because
had it not been for his work.
We may not know about avoidantpersonality today.
Like he brought it to the forefront of ourawareness and honestly, I'm grateful for
that.
(15:15):
So maybe it took splittingup avoidant and
schizoid for us to have thewording to understand
these anxious types and forthem to receive help.
But the more that I read, the more that I
see more of this traumatizedpersonality in
the avoidant.
Like if the feelings of ineptitude are at
the core of the psyche,there's inherently
(15:37):
like a masochistic flavor.
So like setting the self upfor failure basically.
And this is a personality that seesthe self very, very poorly.
So in my opinion, there'sgot to be trauma
early on for the psyche's foundation to be
built on such insecurity andshame about the self.
(16:01):
But I am curious viewers and listeners,do you agree with that?
Is it possible that there's sometrauma underlying avoidant?
If you identify as avoidant,do you feel like
there was some trauma thatkind of influenced
your personality development?
Let us know in the comments.
Anyway, kind of bringingthis back around,
I was thinking about thehistorical context
(16:21):
again because I really enjoyhistory and I
really enjoy how psychologyand history meet
and we can look at all these threads aboutsocial and psychological development.
So just thinking that maybe people were
just starting to open up abouttheir trauma in
these times versus suppressing it, like
especially on the heels ofWorld War II, right?
(16:44):
So is feeling insecure andscared an option
when you're in survival mode,like we would
have been during war times.
So then post war, were we slowly startingto open up to expressing trauma?
And in the DSM alone, like it didn't
become a thing until 1952 actuallyas a reaction
(17:06):
to World War II, which isreally interesting
because we needed a way toclassify and treat
the needs of service men and women inoutpatient psychiatric care.
And it's possible that this newly coined
avoidant personality of the1960s was a trait that
could maybe now be expressed after
(17:27):
generations of like survivalmode and suppression.
With psychology, you know, becoming more
mainstream, especially in the 1950sand the 1960s and then
going kind of full speed ahead in the
1980s, like how did that affectpersonalities?
And I'll leave you with this piece.
So in his book, Millon himselfsaid about his
(17:48):
newly coined avoidant personality,"Only time
will tell whether it is best conceived in
purely descriptive termsor through notions
such as temperament, developmental conflict,or early object anxiety."
Basically, only time will tellif he got it right.
So today we went a layer deeper into the
(18:10):
controversy around avoidant personality,along with some
historical thoughts and historicalcontext.
And I also proposed a new way to thinkabout it as a potential trait.
So I hope that you'll tune in forthe rest of this series.
And don't forget to like subscribe,give us a shout out.
We also have blogs, visuals,and references that
(18:32):
coincide with each episode atwww.personalitycouch.com.
And if you're a providerlooking to consult
about a case or if you'rea potential patient
in need of psychodynamictherapy or a deep
dive psychological evaluation, my private
practice Quest Psych canhelp provide that.
So I'll put a link in theshow notes below.
(18:53):
But for today, that's a wrap.
Be well, be kind, and we'll see you nexttime on the Personality Couch.
This podcast is for informationalpurposes
only and does not constitutea professional
relationship.
If you're in need of professional help,
please seek out appropriate resourcesin your area.
Information about clinical trends or
(19:14):
diagnoses are discussed in broadand universal terms
and do not refer to any specificperson or case.
Welcome to the Personality Couch podcast,
where we discuss all thingspersonality and clinical practice.
I'm your host, Doc Bok,and I'm a licensed
clinical psychologist inprivate practice.
My co-host, Doc Fish, isout this week, so
I'm flying solo to bring you this special
living room session as we continue ourAvoidant Personality series.
(00:22):
In this episode, I takea critical look at
the historical controversysurrounding avoidant
personality disorder as a DSM diagnosis,
and I also propose an alternateway to think
about this unique personality.
And importantly, I'll answer the question,"Did the DSM get it wrong?"
(00:44):
So without further ado, let's dive in.
Avoidant Personality Disorder was
introduced fairly late in thegame, so if we look at
the other personality disorders, we can
actually trace them back notonly to the DSM I and
II, but sometimes even earlier,like prior to
1900s or even as far backas ancient Greece
(01:05):
or ancient Egypt, like with histrionicpersonality specifically.
But then there's avoidant personality.
So avoidant wasn't considered to be a
separate personality at first,since its traits were
conceptually part of schizoidpersonality.
However, Dr. Theodore Millon separatedthe two in 1969.
(01:28):
This makes avoidant thelatest personality
in the DSM to be coined byfar, and there's
still debate on whether or not it shouldbe a separate personality disorder.
Regardless, avoidant personality disorder
did make its way into theDSM III in 1980, in
large part because Millonwas on the DSM task
(01:50):
force that decides what diagnosesgo in and
which don't.
So the task force decided thatschizoid would be
split up into avoidant, schizoid,and schizotypal
personality disorders.
So while all three of these personalitiesinclude a
focus on social withdrawal,avoidant personalities
(02:11):
move away from others dueto hypersensitivity
to rejection, even thoughthey actually desire
relationships.
In contrast, the schizo-oriented
personalities are more passivelydetached in relationships
and don't necessarily have thoseovert rejection fears.
But let's move on to the controversy aboutavoidant even being in the DSM.
(02:38):
When avoidant came on thescene in the DSM
III in 1980, I imagine a lotof the field of
psychology was shocked becauseit hadn't really
been widely accepted as a disorderin the field.
So shrinks started comingout of the woodwork,
sharing their thoughts inargumentative letters
to Millon and others in the DSM task force,basically going like, "Wait a minute.
(03:02):
Wait a minute.
What is this?"
I'll give you a few entertainingexamples.
It seems to have started with Livesleyand colleagues in 1985.
Basically their argument is that avoidantpersonality is Millon's theory alone.
Millon seemed to come up with thisconclusion in isolation.
(03:23):
And in the DSM III, avoidant personalitywas deficits-based.
So having a deficits-based model for
personalities is a problem becausehow do you describe a
personality by what it lacksinstead of what it is?
And then they pulled Gundersoninto it, who
also was a major personalitytheorist at the
(03:44):
time who basically said, "We have no real
research to back this up,and the field has
not widely accepted it as apersonality disorder.
This is your hair-brain theory, Millon."
And then, of course, there'ssnarky remarks
from Millon in these lettersback and forth.
And he basically said, indifferent words,
(04:05):
"Y'all weren't on the taskforce, so you're
not privy to my special secret research
knowledge," which honestly, thisdoesn't make any sense,
right?
Because you don't keep researchunder a bushel.
Like that's ridiculous.
And I think that's their pointin these arguments.
They're going like, "How did this happen,and where did this research come from?"
(04:29):
Okay, but let's talk aboutAkhtar real quick
because he was another reallyprominent personality
figure and you actually might recognizehim for his work on narcissism.
So Akhtar called out thefact that we have
essentially ignored psychoanalytic theory
and he proposed that avoidant personalityis a phobic character.
(04:51):
So what is a phobic character?
Real quick, an anxious avoidant or phobic
personality is an anxiety-riddenand timid
person who needs to feel safe but instead
believes they are in constantdanger and must
avoid it, which sounds a littlelike an avoidant, right?
The avoidant that we know today.
(05:13):
So Akhtar was unique because he actually
agreed that there was somethingthere with avoidant
personality, but he thought that it wasjust in the wrong category.
And interestingly, it seems like our
listeners and viewers have differentopinions too.
So we put out a poll on YouTube, and itseems there's a mix of views as well.
(05:34):
So some said, "Yep, it's a personalitydisorder."
Others are like, "No way, not a chance."
And then others are kind of skepticalbut can't really say.
So our opinions are mixed.
So just like the early researchers.
But let's move on to the context ofwhen avoidant was coined.
This historical context to meis the most fascinating.
(05:56):
So let's remember that Millon officially coinedavoidant personality in the 1960s.
Way late, right?
So the 1960s is a really, really interestingsnapshot in history.
And I'm wondering if avoidantpersonality was
pushed into the DSM-III as apotential diagnosis
(06:17):
because of the zeitgeist of the time.
So let's start globally.
Let's take a peek at this.
World War II had just endedin 1945, which
meant we were in survival mode for a long
time, right?
And then also the worldorder is changing.
There's heightened polarizationacross the globe.
(06:37):
The Vietnam War is happening.
The Cold War is also looming large with
the threat of being nuked,kind of hanging in
the air.
Boomers are born or comingof age, right?
And then let's, let's zoom ina level to the U.S.
So in America, the 1960swere for many kind
of initially filled with hopeof new promises
(06:59):
that really never materialized.
Our president JFK was assassinated in 1963,just two years after taking office.
It was the height of the civil rightsmovement in America.
And in 1963, MLK also gave his famous"I Have a Dream" speech.
The Civil Rights Act waspassed in 1964, but
(07:20):
by 1965, the states becamemore deeply involved
in the Vietnam War.
And people were getting feistybecause reform
wasn't happening as quicklybecause essentially
those finances were goingtowards the war.
So there were constant riots aboutthe war, about race.
And then also we have activists that were
(07:41):
galvanized to stand up forcivil rights in
this time.
And one of those activists, Martin LutherKing, was assassinated in 1968.
And then we have 1969.
Not only did we land on the moon, but
Millon's book came out aboutavoidant personality.
So he would have been writing it in maybe
like 1968, possibly 1967,conducting research
(08:05):
probably in this decade.
And then we also have in 1969, Nixon, oneof the most paranoid leaders America has
seen, was elected as president in 1969.
So multiple theorists have actually said
he's a paranoid personalitystructure, which is
a disintegration of avoidant personality,
(08:26):
according to Millon, and thesevere psychotic
organization of a phobic character, accordingto Psychodynamic and McWilliams.
Isn't that fascinating?
So we do have a whole series on paranoid
personalities if you findthat interesting,
which I will link in the shownotes and on YouTube.
Anyway, anyway, back to Nixon.
(08:47):
Nixon is interesting becausewe often elect a
leader that is a representationof ourselves.
Oof, this is a really scarythought, right?
But this, this here is my point.
So it's as if Millon in 196-whatever,
looked outside his window andwas like, oh, look,
(09:08):
like these types are everywhere.
It's raining, anxious people!
So conveniently, the people he needed to
justify his lone wolf researchwere right outside.
And I'm curious, if you'rea boomer, do you
identify with being a littlemore anxious,
hypersensitive about rejection?
(09:31):
And do you have some of theseavoidant traits?
Let us know in the comments if so.
Okay, so here's my thoughts.
I've actually read Millon's research
arguments and on one hand, hedoes make a fair point.
He was able to trace avoidant personality
to other names in history,like the passive
(09:51):
autist, so not autistic, but kind of...so autist, passive autist.
Does that make sense?
So that was coined by Kahn in 1931, or the
wistful outsiders describedby Menninger in
1930.
So these types were very fearfuland anxious.
(10:11):
But again, the major lineof thought at that
time put this fearful characterin line with
schizoid saying that theyare one in the same.
So I agree here that Millon waspicking up on something.
Like there was a distinct fearful, low
self-esteem filled characteristicthat was popping up
(10:33):
with some of the early research.
And I do agree that this fearful characteris different from schizoid and shouldn't
be lumped together with it.
The issue that I have isthat Millon seemed
to single-handedly takedifferent theories
and then say, let's make a personality
category out of this withoutsufficient research.
(10:57):
Now remember, the DSM is not the only waythat we categorize personality.
There are really many, many othertheories and typologies.
So the DSM just captures disorder level.
To my point, I think Millon was picking up
on something unique, butdoes it belong in
the DSM?
(11:18):
So where would I put avoidant?
Okay, here we go.
So I'm starting to think thatavoidant is a trait.
So similar to narcissismin that way, it can
be overdone and become onewith the psyche,
making it a personality issue.
But I don't necessarily see it as a
(11:40):
standalone personality disorderanymore theoretically.
Because one of my major critiques is that
avoidant overlaps with a lotof other personality
disorders in the DSM.
And you can see these avoidant traits in
borderline personality for one, intheir push-pull dynamics
(12:00):
and their hypersensitivity.
And then you can also see it in the
paranoid personality with theirfear-based approach
to life.
And for schizoids, avoidant personality
could be what's inside theirturtle shell, though
it doesn't have to be.
So maybe some personalitiesare more prone to
having that volume turned upon this hypersensitive
(12:24):
fear, but others, not so much.
And then also maybe entire cohorts that
endure times of upheaval andunrest are more prone
to these traits too.
So I'm also wondering if trauma canactivate this trait even more.
And with that, it makesme wonder if those
(12:45):
coming of age in this pandemicand post-pandemic
world would also have somemore avoidant traits.
However, I have diagnosedit clinically, and
I've seen presentations thatdo seem to check
the DSM boxes.
That avoidant part of thepersonality seems
to be at the forefront ofthe individual's
(13:07):
issues, right?
So we can still see that.
We can still diagnose that.
But in my experience, itdoes make me want
to see what else is under the hood of the
psyche, so to speak, along with avoidant
versus just calling avoidantthe main event and
then saying, thank you, have a nice day.
So in other words, avoidant in my experienceseems to have a buddy.
(13:30):
This means there's often another personalitysomething going along with it.
In treatment and therapy specifically,I'd be
asking like, what purpose isthis hypersensitivity
serving?
Like how is it being reinforcedand what is
it working together with tomake relationships
difficult?
(13:51):
Is it protecting depression?
Is it keeping others at arm's lengthdue to unresolved trauma?
Is there a borderline push-pulldynamic underneath?
Like there are so, so many possibilities.
And I also think if we moveaway from the DSM
and disorder level categories,the Enneagram
classification system does have a pretty
(14:13):
spot on description of avoidantcharacteristics
in the Enneagram type 6, whichis very fear-based.
So this hypervigilant personality is in
need of security and guidanceand really starts
to look a lot like this avoidantcharacter that Millon coined.
(14:34):
For those of you who expressed interest inthe Enneagram series, we do hear you.
We're trying to figure outwhat that would
look like since that is liableto be a huge
series.
Like we're talking six months, maybea year's worth of content.
So we hear you.
We're still working it outon the background.
My last thoughts.
(14:54):
Okay, here we go.
So I do have to hand it to Millon for
splitting up avoidant and bringingit to light because
had it not been for his work.
We may not know about avoidantpersonality today.
Like he brought it to the forefront of ourawareness and honestly, I'm grateful for
that.
(15:15):
So maybe it took splittingup avoidant and
schizoid for us to have thewording to understand
these anxious types and forthem to receive help.
But the more that I read, the more that I
see more of this traumatizedpersonality in
the avoidant.
Like if the feelings of ineptitude are at
the core of the psyche,there's inherently
(15:37):
like a masochistic flavor.
So like setting the self upfor failure basically.
And this is a personality that seesthe self very, very poorly.
So in my opinion, there'sgot to be trauma
early on for the psyche's foundation to be
built on such insecurity andshame about the self.
(16:01):
But I am curious viewers and listeners,do you agree with that?
Is it possible that there's sometrauma underlying avoidant?
If you identify as avoidant,do you feel like
there was some trauma thatkind of influenced
your personality development?
Let us know in the comments.
Anyway, kind of bringingthis back around,
I was thinking about thehistorical context
(16:21):
again because I really enjoyhistory and I
really enjoy how psychologyand history meet
and we can look at all these threads aboutsocial and psychological development.
So just thinking that maybe people were
just starting to open up abouttheir trauma in
these times versus suppressing it, like
especially on the heels ofWorld War II, right?
(16:44):
So is feeling insecure andscared an option
when you're in survival mode,like we would
have been during war times.
So then post war, were we slowly startingto open up to expressing trauma?
And in the DSM alone, like it didn't
become a thing until 1952 actuallyas a reaction
(17:06):
to World War II, which isreally interesting
because we needed a way toclassify and treat
the needs of service men and women inoutpatient psychiatric care.
And it's possible that this newly coined
avoidant personality of the1960s was a trait that
could maybe now be expressed after
(17:27):
generations of like survivalmode and suppression.
With psychology, you know, becoming more
mainstream, especially in the 1950sand the 1960s and then
going kind of full speed ahead in the
1980s, like how did that affectpersonalities?
And I'll leave you with this piece.
So in his book, Millon himselfsaid about his
(17:48):
newly coined avoidant personality,"Only time
will tell whether it is best conceived in
purely descriptive termsor through notions
such as temperament, developmental conflict,or early object anxiety."
Basically, only time will tellif he got it right.
So today we went a layer deeper into the
(18:10):
controversy around avoidant personality,along with some
historical thoughts and historicalcontext.
And I also proposed a new way to thinkabout it as a potential trait.
So I hope that you'll tune in forthe rest of this series.
And don't forget to like subscribe,give us a shout out.
We also have blogs, visuals,and references that
(18:32):
coincide with each episode atwww.personalitycouch.com.
And if you're a providerlooking to consult
about a case or if you'rea potential patient
in need of psychodynamictherapy or a deep
dive psychological evaluation, my private
practice Quest Psych canhelp provide that.
So I'll put a link in theshow notes below.
(18:53):
But for today, that's a wrap.
Be well, be kind, and we'll see you nexttime on the Personality Couch.
This podcast is for informationalpurposes
only and does not constitutea professional
relationship.
If you're in need of professional help,
please seek out appropriate resourcesin your area.
Information about clinical trends or
(19:14):
diagnoses are discussed in broadand universal terms
and do not refer to any specificperson or case.
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