Jake Ware-Avoidant Personality Disorder (AVPD) Coach
I'm Jake! I'm a pretty normal guy who happens to have avoidant personality disorder (AvPD). Experiencing constant, intense social anxiety means that everyday life can feel pretty impossible. My brain and my body stop working correctly when I'm around other people, whether strangers or family; whether I'm talking to them or just walking by. I can't think, or focus on simple tasks; I lose dexterity, and the ability to do things I do all the time.
My Story
I constantly feel like I'm embarrassing myself, and anyone I'm interacting with, and the shame of that sticks around long after they've left. I dread just having to get groceries or gasoline. In light of my disorder, I've had to reevaluate what I actually want out of life. Things like being in a band and working in a game development studio are not realistically things which would be enjoyable for the person I ended up being.
What's important to me now is to be happy, and to help other anxious people to be happy. I'm not a mental health professional, but I do have a firsthand familiarity with AVPD. I've spent a lot of time thinking about where it came from, how it has impacted my life, and how I can work around the anxiety that will always be there. I want to help others understand people with AVPD, and how this anxiety is a real, persistent obstacle for us in all parts of life. More than anything, I want to help others who might have AVPD to understand themselves—as that's the only thing that's kept me going through my hardest days. Please feel more than welcome to reach out to me anytime you'd like someone to talk to.
