Avoidant Personality Disorder (AvPD) and Coping Exercise

Hello everyone! 😃

Today I'm going to discuss one of the most devastating AvPD issues, the fear of criticism. It's one of the many symptoms of AvPD that often causes social withdrawal. Let's do a simple exercise to combat this fear together 💖 Feel free to share your thoughts about the exercise, and feel free to participate even if you don't have AvPD!

Let's get started!

What you will need: A pen, paper, and a dictionary (or any super thick book)

Step 1 - Write 20 random things about yourself down on the piece of paper, they could be anything! ("I like dogs", "I don't like coffee")

Step 2 - Take a moment to look at how long the list is and understand that any of these things could be criticised

Step 3 - Rate these items on a scale of 1-4 (1 being the least) about how important they are to you

Step 4 - Take out the thick book and open it to the first page

Each item that you gave a:

1 = one letter in the book

2 = one word in the book

3 = one sentence in the book

4 = one paragraph in the book

Step 5 - Mark the amount of letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs you have from your list in the book

Step 6 - Take a moment to look at how much of the book remains unmarked, and also look at how little of the book the markings take up.

You represent this dictionary. There is so much more to you than just these 20 things. Even if you are criticised for them, realise that you are more than those criticisms. Most times that people will criticise you is in a certain context. For example, if you are non-religious and walk into a church, you may be criticised for your lack of religion, but if you were to go to the mall, no one would criticise you for your religion. You are perfectly fine just the way you are 💜

Tag some friends to participate ✨

Source: https://barendspsychology.com/coping-with-avoidant-personality-disorder/