- Hi, I'm Dr. Tracey Marks,
and I make mental health education videos.
Today I'm talking about schizoid personality disorder,
and this is based on a viewer question,
asking me to compare this to autism spectrum disorder.
Schizoid personality disorder falls under cluster A
of the personality disorders.
Cluster A disorders are characterized
by odd, or eccentric behavior.
The three personalities in this group are schizoid,
schizotypal and paranoid.
Here's how we define schizoid personality disorder,
and this is according
to the "Diagnostic And Statistical Manual
"Of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition".
It's a pervasive pattern of detachment
from social relationships, and a restricted range
of expression of emotions in interpersonal settings,
beginning by early adulthood,
and present in a variety of contexts,
as indicated by four or more of the following.
Number one, neither desires no enjoys close relationships,
including being part of a family.
This lack of desire is not a reaction
to having a bad relationship within your family,
or with friends.
So it's not as though you decide that you're not gonna have
anything to do with people because you've been hurt.
This starts from scratch, having an indifference
to being in a relationship.
You could take it or leave it.
And this could be very disturbing for a parent,
to see their child be this way,
or a sibling can feel rejected by a sister,
who just doesn't seem to care if they're close.
Number two, always chooses solitary activities.
So this looks like the loner,
who spends more time engaged in activities
than spending time with people.
This person may come home every night, from work,
and go to a room and play video games for hours,
and not feel any sense of being cooped up or isolated.
Number three, has little, if any, interest
in having sexual experiences with another person.
The key phrase here is with another person.
Many people with schizoid personality
can be asexual, such that they have
zero interest in being sexual.
But that's not everyone.
Some may have a very active fantasy life,
even if they don't act on the fantasies,
and the fantasies can be very complex,
like wanting the unavailable person,
or focusing on body parts, or getting involved in kink.
But the sexual activity, if it's present,
is not about intimacy or closeness with another person.
Number four, takes pleasure in few, if any, activities.
Five, lacks close friends or confidants,
other than first-degree relatives.
Because of this, they usually don't date much
or get married.
They can, but not usually.
Six, appears indifferent to praise,
or the criticism of others.
And this can cause social problems
because the person can appear really self-absorbed.
Because in this case, they not only ignore criticism,
but they also ignore praise,
and this can make them look socially inappropriate at times,
and can appear unreachable, as if nothing matters.
Number seven, shows emotional coldness, detachment,
or flattened affectivity.
A flattened affect is when a person doesn't seem to have
a normal range of emotional expression.
Everything is fairly flat lined,
when it comes to facial expressions,
tone of voice, and body posture,
and all of those things are involved
in the way that you express yourself.
The social impact of this personality
can cause occupational problems,
because of the way that you interact with people.
A person with schizoid personality
would be best suited for a job
where you can work alone, with minimal supervision.
Working with a team is the last thing that you need to do.
Because of your aloofness in relationships,
family members may reject you.
And although the person with schizoid personality
likes being alone,
you can still feel a sense of frustration,
that people don't understand you.
And this can create a momentary feeling of loneliness,
but not in the same way that it does with a person
with avoidant personality disorder.
The personal with avoidant personality
has trouble connecting to people
because of their fear of being judged or rejected.
But they desperately want the intimacy.
The person with schizoid personality disorder
doesn't want the intimacy.
But we live in a world
where we see that as strange and unrelatable,
and being seen that way
can create this void that's unsettling.
We tend not to see schizoid personality disorder much
in a clinical setting,
and I don't know if this is because
the incidents is truly low, or if the personality itself
doesn't make people seek help.
Remember, with the personality disorders,
it's usually friends and loved ones
that push the person into therapy.
That said, schizoid personality has been seen
as a prodrome or lead-in to schizophrenia.
It doesn't cause schizophrenia,
but it can co-occur with schizophrenia.
In other words, if you do have both, and not everyone does,
the schizophrenia is the psychiatric illness,
and schizoid is the underlying personality.
Schizoid personality can also co-occur with schizotypal,
paranoid, and avoidant personality.
Sometimes people can have a mixture of features
from different personalities, and in this case,
you wouldn't be diagnosed
with three different personality disorders,
unless you met the criteria for all three,
which is pretty unusual.
Instead, we would say that you have a mixed personality,
with features of the three different personalities.
Now what about autism spectrum disorder?
Sometimes autism spectrum disorder
can look very much like schizoid personality.
Autism spectrum disorder is a brain development disorder,
where there are delays in your brain development,
beginning in childhood.
This causes difficulties with social interaction,
communication, and repetitive behaviors.
Often people with autism spectrum
will have impaired sensory processing,
so they may be hyper or hypo sensitive
to sounds and textures.
It's a spectrum illness,
because the degree to which a person is impaired
ranges from low functioning to high functioning.
A low functioning person generally is not able to work,
and may not even be able to take care of themselves,
and need a lot of assistance.
Whereas a high functioning person,
which used to be called Asperger's syndrome,
may be able to live independently, and do well.
They still have trouble though, with social interactions,
because of the difficulties
in the way that they relate to people.
So the social awkwardness can look similar
to someone with schizoid personality.
But the person with schizoid personality
is not gonna have the same
stereotyped behaviors and interests
that you see with autism spectrum.
Also, the social impairment with autism spectrum
is different in quality.
People with autism spectrum
don't necessary prefer to be alone,
like the person with schizoid personality.
You can think of it this way, the schizoid person
keeps people at an arm's distance.
Whereas the autism spectrum person
has a desire for relationships,
but their non-typical way of interacting with people
makes it hard for them to forge relationships.
For more on autism spectrum disorder, watch this video.
Also, if you're interested in other personality disorders,
I have a playlist, collecting my videos
on the personality disorders.
See ya next time.