The individual with avoidant personality disorder is extremely sensitive to rejection and because of this may extremely sensitive to rejection and because of this may lead a very socially withdrawn life. It is not that he or she is asocial; in fact, there may be a strong desire for companionship . The extreme shyness and fear of rejection, however, create needs for unusually strong guarantees of uncritical acceptance Prevalence of the disorder in the general population is between 0.5 and 1 percent , and it appears to be equally common in men and women .