Schizotypal personality disorder

Schizotypal personality disorder, or simply schizotypal disorder, is a personality disorder that is characterized by a need for social isolation, odd behaviour and thinking, and often unconventional beliefs.

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There is a high rate of comorbidity with other personality disorders. McGlashan et al. (2000) stated that this may be due to overlapping criteria with other personality disorders, such as avoidant personality disorder and paranoid personality disorder^[1].

As with any other personality disorder, the roots of the Schizotypal individual's pathology is believed to stem from early childhood, particularly the first or second year of development. The child is subject to inadequate care, usually in the form of emotional/social neglect more than outright abuse. A child can be well-fed, kept clean and safe at all times, but without the constant social stimulation of the mother and/or father, the child (unwittingly) learns to withdraw into itself, and not to seek pleasure from the outside world.

There are many similarities between the Schizotypal and Schizoid personalities. Most notable of the similarities is a mistrust of others and an inability to initiate or maintain relationships (both friendly and romantic) The difference between the two seems to be that those labelled as Schizotypal avoid social interaction because of a deep-seated fear of people. The Schizoid individual simply feels no desire to form relationships, because they quite literally see no point in sharing their time with others.

The schizotypal individual develops a fear of social interaction because of constant teasing and bullying. As infants they do not learn how to interact with others, and as children this inability quickly makes them a target for other children. Eventually, the individual learns (unconsciously) to see people as harmful and the source of humiliation and ostracization. The individual skews away from society and withdraws into their own world.

References

1. ^ McGlashan, T.H., Grilo, C.M., Skodol, A.E., Gunderson, J.G., Shea, M.T., Morey, L.C., et al. (2000). The collaborative longitudinal personality disorders study: Baseline axis I/II and II/II diagnostic co-occurrence. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 102, 256-264.

See also

• Paranoid personality disorder
• Schizoid personality disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Schizotypy