Glossary / Lexicon

Cluster C refer to Personality Disorders listed in DSM-IV involving Anxiety and fearfulness. Included in Cluster C Personality Disorders are:

(1) Those people with an Avoidant Personality Disorder who exhibit, in a variety of contexts, a pervasive pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and hypersensitivity to negative evaluations or criticisms;

(2) Those people with a Dependent Personality Disorder who allow others to make decisions and display a need to be taken care of that leads to submissive and clinging behavior accompanied by fears of separation; and

(3) An Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder that involves, in many contexts, a tendency toward perfectionism, a rigid preoccupation with orderliness, and mental and interpersonal control at the expense of flexibility, openness, and efficiency.