What are Cluster C Personality Disorders

Do you know what are cluster C personality disorders? If you’ve been told you have a personality disorder, there’s a good chance you have one of the cluster C disorders. This group includes avoidant personality disorder, dependent personality disorder, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. Each of these disorders has its unique symptoms and ways of impacting your life. But what do they all have in common? And what can you do if you think you might have one? This post will give you a closer look at cluster C personality disorders and some tips for living with them.

What are the Major Causes of Cluster C Personality Disorders?

The cause of personality disorders is unknown. However, there are a few theories about how they form. One theory suggests that a person’s environment and genetics play roles in their personality disorder. In addition, it is believed that if someone has a family history of personality disorders or other mental illnesses, they are more likely to develop one themselves.

Another theory suggests that personality disorders are like learning disabilities, in the sense that they are traits you learn through your upbringing or environment that end up hurting you. However, this theory suggests that rather than being the result of poor parenting, personality disorders are caused by overly permissive parenting or parents who are too unwilling to set limits.

What is the Difference Between Cluster C Personality Disorders?

The main difference between the cluster C personality disorders (DPD, OCPD, and ASPD) is the nature of their symptoms. While people with both DPD and OCPD are afraid of being criticized, people with DPD fear criticism to the point that they avoid socializing altogether. This means that people with DPD may have a hard time forming friendships or romantic relationships and feel lonely as a result. In contrast, people with OCPD often crave intimacy but have a hard time being open about their feelings for fear of being judged.

Avoidant Personality Disorder

People with avoidant personality disorder (AvPD) tend to show extreme sensitivity to rejection. While social interaction can be painful for people with AvPD, they desperately want to form meaningful relationships with others. Their extreme fear of rejection can lead to feelings of self-hatred and shame. They tend to be hypersensitive and feel belittled or humiliated when interacting with others.

Consequences Of Having AvPD

People with AvPD avoid close relationships, both personal and professional and tend to be extremely self-conscious. Sometimes they even refuse promotions at work if moving up would put them in a higher position than those they supervise.  They also show signs of paranoia, such as the belief that their friends only stay close to them out of pity or because something is wrong with them.

People with AvPD often have a negative self-image, lack confidence, and may struggle with perfectionism – believing that it will never be good enough even if they achieve their goals. They tend to blame themselves for negative events over which they have no control, feeling weak because they cannot prevent others from hurting or abusing them. Even when it isn’t particularly harsh, they are hypersensitive to criticism and tend to believe that people are constantly judging them or looking down on them.

Dependent Personality Disorder

People with dependent personality disorder (DPD) tend to allow others to take responsibility for practically all major areas of their lives, even though they can take care of themselves. They lack self-confidence and avoid being alone because they believe they need others to take care of them. They are more comfortable receiving care than giving it, and this dependency extends to relationships. While they want connections, they are extremely submissive and put their own needs aside to please others.

People with DPD fear being alone or abandoned by others and will do almost anything to prevent their relationships from ending. This includes putting the other person’s needs before their own. Believing that the other person will leave them if they don’t. They cannot make decisions without extensive advice and reassurance from others and seek out a person to take care of them before they even have a problem. People with DPD often go to extremes to please the other person – going so far as to neglect their health or well-being – believing that the other person will leave them if they don’t.

Consequences Of Having DPD

People with DPD are often seen as clingy, trapped in a pattern of submissiveness that can drive others away. Because they are so overtly submissive, others may see them weak and incompetent. Something DPD sufferers fear more than almost anything else. They may also be seen as manipulative and attention-seeking, which can lead to misunderstanding and misdiagnosis. People with DPD often suffer in silence because they are too afraid to voice their own needs.

Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder

People with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) are usually inflexible and unwilling to adapt their views or behaviors. They also have a preoccupation with rules, organization, and efficiency. People with OCPD believe that any task worth doing is worth doing perfectly. This combined with their critical nature, means that they are often perfectionists.

 They set unrealistic standards for themselves that they will beat themselves up if they fail to reach. They may also develop set practices for how other people should do things. Feel a need to micromanage their behavior to keep them under control. People with OCPD often struggle to make friends or find a partner because of their many rules and standards. Which are impossible for others to live up to.

Consequences Of Having OCPD

 They may have a hard time at work because others don’t understand or appreciate their need for perfection. Which they cannot compromise on. In addition, OCPD often overlaps with other personality disorders, such as borderline personality disorder (BPD). Meaning that people with OCPD may struggle to cope when they have other issues in addition to their personality disorder.

People suffering from DPD may experience suicidal thoughts because of their fear of being alone or because they cannot be the person others want them to be. They may also have difficulty getting help because they are too submissive to express their needs or make requests.

Treatment For Cluster C Personality Disorders

People with cluster C personality disorders may benefit from dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). Cope with problems without turning to self-destructive behaviors. Establish healthy relationships with others.

People who have an obsessive-compulsive personality disorder may also benefit from talk therapy or cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Which helps them learn how to challenge their thoughts. Identify distorted thinking patterns, and reframe them so that they don’t cause them harm.

Do you want to learn more about personality disorders? Well, find out what types of cluster personality disorders are there.