Now that's a scary idea. I wonder how many people with AvPD maintain them? Not many, I'd bet.

I've been dealing with my depression by becoming more avoidant. I've basically cut my mother, who is the primary cause of my avoidance, out of my life. When I pretend people "don't matter," or at least acknowledge that I don't matter to them, then I can talk to people. (Doctors still terrify me - the worst thing I can hear is "I want to see you for a follow up appointment.") If I think I never have to see anyone again, I can be frivolous, and not think about what they will think the next time they see me, because they won't.

So what does that mean - I'm becoming schitzoid? Or becoming "normal"?

Now - to find the guts to post this...