Today’s topic is Schizoid Personality Disorder, and the first step with this one is explaining why both a Schizoid and a Schizotypal PD exist. Both names are derived from the Greek prefix skhizein, which means “split”. They are both part of the schizophrenia spectrum, and they are more common in people who have relatives with schizophrenia. However, their symptoms oppose each other.
A common way to explain symptoms of schizophrenia is by sorting them into “positive” and “negative”. Positive symptoms refer to when something atypical is added, such as when a person experiences hallucinations or delusions. Negative symptoms refer to when something typical is lost, such as when a person is unable to feel happy or unable to motivate themselves. (Think of positive and negative as representing plus and minus, rather than good and bad).
Schizotypal PD (SzPD) lies inbetween a personality disorder and a schizophrenic disorder, as some people who have SzPD later develop schizophrenia while others only ever have SzPD. SzPD includes many positive symptoms of schizophrenia, including disordered thoughts, disordered speech, and near-psychotic experiences. However, it doesn’t feature any negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
Schizoid PD (SPD), in contrast, is solely a personality disorder. Its diagnostic criteria include many negative symptoms of schizophrenia, but none of the positive symptoms. To be diagnosed with Schizoid PD, a person needs to meet 4 of these criteria:
- They are emotionally cold and detached, and do not seem to experience strong emotions.
- They do not often express emotions towards others or react strongly to others.
- They consistently prefer to work alone and have solitary hobbies.
- They have few or no close friends or relationships (due to not wanting them rather than anxiety or fear).
- They don’t care about being praised or criticised.
- They find few or no activities pleasurable.
- They are indifferent to social norms and conventions.
- They are preoccupied with fantasy and introspection; they may seem “in their own world” or absent-minded.
- They do not desire or care about having sexual experiences with another person.
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