Schizoid Personality Disorder: Personality and Personal Growth

Schizoid personality disorder describes a pattern where a person goes out of their way to keep clear of other people. It doesn't turn up often, and to most outsiders the person just looks like a loner. As with a number of personality disorders, men are diagnosed more frequently than women. No particular temperament is immune; the condition shows up across every personality type. Someone living with it can come across as flat, almost without feeling, seemingly untouched by whatever is going on around them. The loneliness underneath that can be real, though the person rarely wants to admit it. Building a personal development plan tends to help with managing the day to day. There is no cure, but the disorder can be held in check, and getting a grip on what it is and what it does to you is where coping starts.

The disorder sits on the schizophrenic spectrum, yet it stands apart from schizophrenia, a distinction that matters. Its symptoms run milder than those of schizophrenia. What tends to show up includes a steady pull toward solitary activities and a preference for being on your own. Social cues can be genuinely puzzling, leaving you unsure how a normal reaction is supposed to look. Pleasure may feel out of reach entirely. Drive at work or at school often goes missing. Interest in sexual relationships may be slight or absent, and the whole affect can register as cold, detached, or dull.

What sets this disorder in motion isn't settled science. The prevailing view points to some mix of genes and environment, with the early childhood years mattering a great deal. A few things appear to raise the odds. Having a close relative with the same disorder, a different personality disorder, or schizophrenia is one. Being thin-skinned or easily wounded as a child is another. A parent who was emotionally distant or unresponsive to a child's needs can feature, as can neglect, abuse, or mistreatment during those early years.

Diagnosis usually begins in your primary doctor's office, where the goal is to rule out any physical cause and confirm that medications aren't behind what you're experiencing. After that you'll see a mental health professional, who turns to the DSM-5 and checks your symptoms against its criteria. To qualify, at least four of the following need to be present: no wish for close relationships, little interest in sex, an emotionally cold or unexpressive manner, a consistent choice of solitary activities, an inability to take pleasure in enjoyable things, and indifference to both criticism and praise.

Getting someone into treatment is often the hard part, since the interest simply isn't there. Once a person does agree, a few approaches tend to be combined. Talk therapy gives you room to look at your symptoms and how they shape your life, to pick up coping strategies for the emotional bluntness the disorder brings, and to work on trusting others and forming relationships. Group therapy may come later in the plan; it's a place to practice interpersonal skills and learn to relate to people. Medication isn't standard, but a doctor might prescribe antidepressants or antipsychotics when it seems warranted.

You now have a clearer picture of the disorder, who tends to get it, and what a diagnosis involves. Because any personality type can be affected, almost any young person could in theory develop it. It remains rare, so an accurate diagnosis and a treatment plan suited to you both count for a lot. A personal development plan can fit inside that treatment, and a doctor can help you shape one around your personality type, how severe the disorder is, and the specific symptoms you deal with, so that living a reasonably ordinary life stays within reach.

References: Mayo Clinic, schizoid personality disorder entry; she-poured-out-words.blogspot.com.