finally we arrive at cluster c which includes dependent obsessive compulsive and avoidant personality disorders this is the cluster that will make the personality disorder party doa or dead on arrival if cluster a resembles psychosis and cluster b resembles mood then cluster c resembles anxiety because of this the cluster c personality disorders are sometimes called the worried group however just like in cluster a the similarities between the disorders in this group are ultimately superficial and their inclusion together should not make you think that there is any sort of shared basis between them in contrast to cluster b disorders which often come to clinical attention and cluster a disorders which rarely come to clinical attention cluster c disorders sometimes come to clinical attention let's go over each of these one by one first dependent personality disorder is characterized by an over reliance upon other people in multiple areas of life people with dependent personality disorder often feel unable to live life on their own and instead rely on others for any number of things including making decisions both large and small taking care of basic responsibilities like work and finances or starting projects of any kind they will often be extremely deferential in their relationships in order to avoid even the slightest possibility of conflict or disapproval they tend to feel incredibly vulnerable when left alone and spend a lot of time worrying about what will happen if a relationship ends which leads them to constantly seek reassurance from others when relationships do eventually end they often engage in desperate measures to embed themselves in new relationships rather than remain on their own in the ocean model dependent personality disorder maps to a trait of high agreeableness while at first it may seem odd that high agreeableness could be pathological in reality even agreeableness can become maladaptive when present in extreme and inflexible forms as trust becomes gullibility cooperation becomes subservience and thoughtfulness becomes capitulation you can remember this by thinking of someone who fake laughs at all your lame jokes in order to avoid conflict this person has extremely high agreeableness treatment of dependent personality disorder is poorly studied but should generally be focused on addressing the cognitive biases that are found in this disorder including automatic thoughts like i am ineffective and can't do anything on my own focus should also be given to addressing maladaptive relationship dynamics and working towards promoting independence and self-efficacy next obsessive-compulsive personality disorder or ocpd is characterized by a need for things to be neat controlled and orderly at all times unlike run-of-the-mill perfectionism there is a rigidity in ocpd to the point where it becomes maladaptive people with ocpd are often unable to complete tasks if it can't be done absolutely perfectly or are unwilling to delegate work to others for fear of the job being done incorrectly they tend to get lost in the details and miss the forest for the trees such as rigidly adhering to a checklist without ever questioning if the overall task needs to be done in the first place this rigidity can take other forms as well such as an inability to throw out old objects and an unwillingness to spend money on oneself for others given their preoccupation with doing things the right way it's not uncommon for people with ocpd to become so fixated on work moral ethical and religious matters that they neglect other things in life like hobbies relaxation and social connection despite having obsessive compulsive in the name this disorder does not involve either obsessions or compulsions as they were defined in the video on ocd another area of distinction between ocd and ocpd is that the rigidity in ocpd is distinctly ego syntonic rather than eco-dystonic as an ocd as people with ocpd truly feel that the way that they're doing things is the right or correct way to do them therefore the best way to understand ocpd is not through ocd but rather through the lens of the ocean personality traits ocpd maps to an extreme and inflexible trait of high conscientiousness with a side of low openness to experience thrown in as well as long as you remember this core trait all of the behaviors and patterns we went over earlier will naturally fall into place you can remember this by thinking of ocpd as overly conscientious personality disorder treatment of ocpd is poorly studied but the evidence that does exist suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy or cbt can lead to less rigidity and reduce both anxiety and depressive symptoms interpersonal therapy may be helpful as well for addressing the effects that their rigidity has on others however because of the ego syntonic nature of the disorder patients may be reluctant to seek treatment in the first place finally the last cluster ce disorder we will talk about is avoidant personality disorder like schizoid personality disorder avoidant personality disorder is characterized by chronic avoidance of other people what sets it apart is that people with avoidant personality disorder still desire human contact whereas people with schizoid personality disorder are generally fine being on their own despite this desire for connection people with avoidant personality disorder still end up shunning companionship due to a crippling sense of self-doubt and a fear of disapproval this leads to an avoidance of social engagements and unwillingness to meet new people a tendency to avoid getting into intimate relationships constant worries about being criticized or rejected inhibited behavior in interpersonal situations a view of oneself as inept or inferior and a reluctance to take risks or do anything potentially embarrassing if you've watched the lecture on anxiety disorders you may think that this sounds eerily reminiscent of social anxiety disorder and you would be right the core symptoms of both disorders are almost exactly the same and studies have shown that the comorbidity between social anxiety disorder and avoidant personality disorder is over 90 percent and may even reach a hundred percent in addition both disorders not only share genetic links but also respond to the same types of treatment with serotonin boosting medications and cbt being effective for both moreover avoidant personality disorder does not clearly map to any particular ocean traits for all these reasons it seems logical to conclude that avoidant personality disorder is not really a personality disorder but rather is best conceptualized as a severe and chronic form of social anxiety disorder if you haven't watched the lecture on anxiety yet make sure to do that so you have a better understanding of both social anxiety disorder and avoidant personality disorder and with that we have officially covered all the personality disorders listed in the dsm while there are definite problems with the way that these disorders are categorized we can nevertheless gain a deeper understanding of our patients by taking personality traits into account when doing a diagnostic evaluation in the next video we'll learn more about anti-social personality disorder so stay tuned for that in the meantime consider liking this video leaving a comment or subscribing for more content you can also check out my books on amazon see you in the next video