Schizoid personality disorder (SPD) is characterized by limited close relationships and perceived emotional coldness. Individuals with this condition feel better being alone and when interacting with other people only in non-personal ways. And yet, studies show that people with SPD are lonely.
Feel like you can't experience pleasure. Have difficulty expressing emotions and reacting appropriately to situations. May seem humorless, indifferent or emotionally cold to others. May appear to lack motivation and goals.
People with schizoid personality disorder (SPD) are generally not interested in developing close relationships and will actively avoid them. They express little interest in intimacy, sexual or otherwise, and endeavor to spend most of their time alone. They will often, however, form close bonds with animals.
Donald Winnicott explains that this is because schizoid individuals "prefer to make relationships on their own terms and not in terms of the impulses of other people". Failing to attain that, they prefer isolation.
The main feature of schizoid personality disorder is a consistent pattern of detachment from and general disinterest in forming and maintaining social relationships. A person with schizoid personality typically: Doesn't want or enjoy close relationships, even with family members.
Personality disorders that are susceptible to worsening with age include paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal, obsessive compulsive, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic, avoidant, and dependent, Dr. Rosowsky said at a conference sponsored by the American Society on Aging.
The schizoid suffers from oscillations between the need to possess (i.e. hungry eating) and the refusal to eat (perhaps even vomiting). Bulimia nervosa (bingeing and then purging) is the physical manifestation of the schizoid condition. You can't eat your cake and have it too — unless you eat it and then vomit it out.
A lack of social interaction is the main complication of schizoid personality disorder. People with this personality disorder are rarely violent, as they prefer not to interact with people.
Schizophrenia. While schizoid personality disorder is considered one of the schizophrenia spectrum disorders and shares some common symptoms with schizophrenia and schizotypal personality disorder, there are important distinctions that separate SPD from those two disorders.
People with schizoid personality disorder have difficulty trusting other people because they believe people are unsafe.
People with personality disorders do fall in love. They have leftover problems from childhood that make it hard for them to form stable intimate relationships. People with borderline, narcissistic, or schizoid personalities have difficulty sustaining mutually satisfying intimate relationships.
The most positive things you can do include getting your loved one treatment, adjusting your expectations for closeness and emotional response, taking pressure away from him or her, and focusing on less emotionally demanding experiences and activities.
Behavior May Appear Narcissistic. Sometimes, people in a romantic relationship with a schizoid person may mistake the above behaviors for narcissistic behavior because they appear superficially similar and feel so hurtful. However, the schizoid's motive is quite different from the narcissist's.
Koponen et al. 43 evaluated over a period of 30 years the occurrence of psychiatric disor- ders in patients (n = 60) who had experienced a traumatic brain injury and found that 6,7% (n = 4) developed a schizoid personality dis- order.
About 3.1 to 4.9% of the general US population have schizoid personality disorder. It is slightly more common among men. Schizoid personality disorder may be more common among people with a family history of schizophrenia or schizotypal personality disorder.
This is a chronic condition that has no cure. Some people with the disease may not be able to hold a job or be in a relationship with other people. However, many people are able to hold jobs and live fairly normal lives.
Schizoids never pursue an opportunity to develop a close relationship. Schizoids are asexual - not interested in sex. Consequently, they appear cold, aloof, bland, stunted, flat, and "zombie"-like.
Schizoids do not lack conscience or emotional empathy in a pathological sense. We are capable of both, but we might not be able to access or use them as often and as intuitively as a normal person would.
So you can think of Schizotypal as Schizoid plus magical thinking and odd behavior. Examples include Kramer from Seinfeld, Doc Brown from Back to the Future and the characters on the Big Bang Theory.
In a relationship with another, the individual with a schizoid personality style, seems detached and emotionally distant. He or she may choose solitary activities, lack close friends, appear indifferent to praise and take pleasure in few things, including sexual interactions.
Symptoms of Schizoid Personality Disorder
They rarely date and often do not marry. Because they prefer being by themselves, they tend to choose activities and hobbies that do not require interaction with others (such as computer games). Sexual activity with others is of little, if any, interest to them.
Across 15 studies, men were diagnosed more often with the schizoid and antisocial personality disorders and women were diagnosed more often with the borderline, histrionic, and dependent personality disorders.
Someone with schizoid personality disorder usually does not care about their condition or taking steps to improve their life. On the other hand, someone with schizotypal personality disorder will likely feel a great deal of depression and anxiety as they struggle with relationships and discomfort in social situations.