Schizotypal Personality Disorder
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Dr. Sam Vaknin
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Do you believe in UFOs and alien abductions?
You may be suffering from the Schizotypal Personality Disorder. Do you believe
in the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary and in the resurrection of her
son? Then you are merely a religious person.
In other words, it is OK to believe in certain "supernatural"
phenomena just because such beliefs are socially acceptable and widespread. The
Schizotypal Personality Disorder is one of the most culture-bound mental health
diagnoses in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual (DSM). Many of the diagnostic criteria of this "personality
disorder" refer to behaviors which some say are utterly normative in certain
cultures or sub-cultures.
(continued below)
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But possessing an idiosyncratic belief system
is not enough. The schizotypal must also be a "strange bird". He or
she must dress uniquely, and have uncommon thought and speech patterns.
Finally, to "qualify" as a schizotypal, one must act bizarre. Critics
argue that such lifestyle choices should not constitute a mental illness.
The DSM says that Schizotypals frequently develop ideas of reference. They are
erroneously convinced that, behind their back, they are a constant topic of
derision, mockery, criticism, or gossip. But this often is the case! Owing to
their peculiarities, schizotypals are invariably the butt of jokes, the targets
of derision and mockery, and the focus of malicious gossip. In other words,
their "ideas of reference" are reality-based, not imaginary and
paranoid.
If you ask her nearest and dearest to describe the schizotypal, they would say
that she dresses oddly, behaves eccentrically, and appears to be weird. These
recurrent encounters with social censure and ridicule cause most schizotypals
to become suspicious and even paranoid and to develop persecutory ideation.
Consequently, schizotypals may be mistrustful and interact only with
first-degree relatives. Schizotypals are more immune to criticism than
narcissists or schizoids, but they do tend to avoid social settings, convinced
that everyone is "out to get them".
The schizotypal is certain that the world is a hostile and unpredictable place
and, thus, best avoided. Same as paranoids, schizotypals do hold and adopt
unusual beliefs, "theories", convictions, "scenarios",
superstitions, and conspiracies.
I described this facet of the disorder in the Open
Site Encyclopedia:
"Although generally not prone to delusions, the schizotypal
is steeped in the occult and the esoteric to the exclusion of rational thinking
and to the detriment of proper daily functioning.
Some schizotypals report 'supernatural' experiences, including perceptual
distortions - such as "out of body" voyages, remote viewing,
clairvoyance, telepathy, or recurrent coincidences. They report these events in
a private language which is difficult to fathom due to its excessive use of
metaphors, vagueness, circumspection, complexity, or stereotypes. The
schizotypal's thinking is similarly convoluted and hermetic."
Some schizotypals share traits with narcissists: they believe themselves to be omnipotent and omniscient, for instance. They have magical thinking and ideas of reference and, often, they feel immune to the consequences of their actions (though, unlike the psychopathic narcissist, they do not lack either empathy or conscience). But, unlike the narcissist and more like the paranoid, the schizotypal's reality test is completely impaired.
Read Notes from the therapy of a Schizotypal Patient
Many additional Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Personality Disorders - click HERE!
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Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited
Frequently Asked Questions about Pathological Narcissism
Excerpts from the Archive of the Narcissism List
World in Conflict and Transition
Internet: A Medium or a Message?
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