Personality disorder?!
Question: what kind of personatliy disorder causes people to cling to others too much and try too hard to gain others' approval?
Answers: what kind of personatliy disorder causes people to cling to others too much and try too hard to gain others' approval?
It's called co-dependency. If you check it out on the Internet, you will find many references. It is quite common.
Self-Help Guru, John Bradshaw has written many books about it. One of the root causes is a lack of self-esteem. And, another is the "I don't belong" feeling.
In my case, I got the "I don't belong" feeling from my mother. Whatever went wrong, "they" did it to her. All problems were caused by outside influences. There was "Us" and "Them." Fear of strangers and all that....
I thought that the relatives were part of "Us," but when we visited them, on the way home, my mother would bad-mouth them, too. "Us" became a very small group.
So, being an average student, not a Jock or a nerd or outstanding in any other way, school was another place I didn't belong. I had the mental image of a pinball in a machine, bouncing around, seeking for a place to fit into.
It took years for me to find a place were I fit, and it was through work, and workaholism and then the cure for that workaholism that finally got me to the place where I feel comfortable in my own skin wherever I am.
In most large cities, there is a group called "Emotions Anonymous" that can be a help to some alienated people. If nothing you find on the Internet helps you, I'm sure you can find EA listed in your phone book. If you live in Rural America, try looking for an Emotions Anonymous web site.
Good luck....
its called 'annoying'
it isn't an "official" disorder but it sounds like you are describing a people pleaser - someone who needs a lot of external approval.
may be related to dependant personality disorder. but that is pretty extreme. it sounds more like just poor self-esteem. think poorly of themselves. like they are not good enough. so they need approval to feel better.