Schizophrenia is a chronic illness characterized by social isolation and indifference. This situation causes many serious effects on life and social relationships if not detected and remedied in a timely manner.
Schizoid personality disorder tends to be more common in men
What is Schizoid Personality Disorder?
Schizoid Personality Disorder / ScPD, this is a form of personality disorder characterized by a state of detachment, apathy, living separate from the surrounding life. The patient will also be emotionally limited, not knowing how to express and express their feelings to the outside.
In fact, this type of personality disorder is quite rare, only about 1 to 3% of the total population worldwide suffers from it, and it tends to be more common in men. Experts share that each person with ScPD will have different eccentric manifestations, the level of danger of each person will also be different.
People with schizoid personality disorder often tend to want to be alone, they lead a closed lifestyle and eccentric gestures, actions, words, and society. The patient himself does not have the need to be cared for by others or to create or maintain any close relationship.
Symptoms of the disease will usually begin in childhood and persist into adulthood, in many cases persisting until the end of life with no signs of abating. Because of that, patients often tend to live separately, alone, rarely get married, and the symptoms of the disease develop more seriously over a long time.
However, you need to understand that not everyone with this personality type will be diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder. Therefore, you need to rely on many factors and related symptoms to get a comprehensive assessment and comment on your health status. Also because more than 50% of patients with ScPD present with symptoms of depression and mood disorders, the diagnosis is sometimes confused.
Schizoid Personality Disorder – What Causes It?
Scientists have determined that schizoid personality disorder is related to genetic factors and is strongly influenced by family factors. Also because the personality characteristics of the patient will be initiated and formed at an early age and develop markedly in each adult stage.
Schizophrenia can begin in childhood and persist into adulthood
Factors that may increase your risk of developing ScPD are as follows:
- Heredity: This is considered to be one of the main causes capable of causing and forming schizoid personality disorder. The survey found that the majority of people with ScPD had a family history of some form of personality disorder or schizophrenia. This condition also demonstrates that genetics is a key factor in the mechanism of the disease. Some problems appearing in the brain can cause people to form a tendency to isolate themselves, prefer to live alone and no longer care about others, the ability to express emotions is also limited.
- Family impact: According to experts, children who are raised by people with personality disorders, even though they are not related by blood, are also likely to have an increased risk of developing the disease. Also because young children are greatly influenced by their parents. Especially when children enter puberty, they become sensitive and easily influenced by those around them. Therefore, living with and being raised by people with ScPD makes it easier for children to form their own personality types.
- Influence from childhood experiences: Some childhood experiences such as being abandoned, being abused, being cold, disinterested, and lacking in love can also cause children to develop symptoms. of schizoid personality disorder. Also, since childhood, children have been deprived of love from loved ones, so when they grow up, they will not know how to care and share with others, thereby gradually losing the shared needs, the ability to express themselves. Expression of feelings of being reduced.
Many experts have agreed and supported the view that schizoid personality disorder has congenital characteristics, the symptoms of which exist since childhood and gradually become more pronounced in adulthood. However, there are also some conflicting opinions that this disease is a state of resistance and defense when children constantly have to go through psychological conflicts, witness serious events and trauma from their childhood. .
Symptoms of Schizoid Personality Disorder
People with schizoid personality disorder will often be surrounded by people with a cold, social, and detached personality. These subjects will enjoy and feel comfortable being alone, some schools even tend to experience loneliness and social isolation, isolated from the outside world.
Experts say that schizoid personality disorder resembles “a common pattern of social and individual budget deficits marked by acute discomfort with, and reduced form of competence, close relationships. closeness as well as distortion and eccentricity of cognitive or cognitive behavior, beginning with early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts.”
Patients will typically have the following symptoms:
- Tendency to want to separate from people around
- Limited or even unwillingness to build or maintain any close relationships with anyone.
- Not often participating in and not interested in fun activities, outside entertainment.
- Don’t care about other people’s comments about you, show a cold, indifferent attitude to compliments, criticisms, and rejections.
- Not feeling interested and disliked family, friends, and social relationships.
- There is always indifference to the expectations and standards of society.
- Patients often have little or no desire for sex.
- Tends to like to do things alone, always prioritizing jobs with high independence.
- Limited ability to express emotions, seeming to show little or even extreme emotions, such as not being sad, depressed, crying, happy, overjoyed .
- Patients will feel more interested in inanimate things such as books, transmissions, decorative objects, etc. On the other hand, there are some cases where the patient gives a lot of attention and affection to certain animals. certain, most commonly cats.
Compared with other personality disorders, schizoid personality disorder has more stable symptoms. At the same time, patients are often accompanied by manifestations of related mental disorders, especially depression. Statistics show that more than half of people with ScPD develop symptoms of a depressive disorder.
Symptoms of schizoid personality disorder usually appear in early adulthood. In some cases, features of the disease may also become apparent in childhood. This causes many obstacles and difficulties to daily life activities, the study and work process is also affected a lot. However, sick people are still able to do their jobs well if they do it alone.
Is Schizoid Personality Disorder Dangerous?
As shared above, people with schizoid personality disorder are characterized by an eccentric state, aloof from society and without any need for a long-term, sustainable relationship. Patients are often quiet, appear apathetic, cold and do not care about those around them. They tend to live a closed life, limited in their ability to express and express their personal feelings.
Also, because the personality is quite different from everyone around, not according to social standards, people with schizoid personality disorder will often face many obstacles in the job search process. They often prefer to choose independent jobs, such as writing, research, etc. to limit interaction with those around them.
In addition, people with ScPD often only care about themselves and do not notice, even indifferent, indifferent to suggestions, criticisms, and compliments from those around them. Therefore, they easily encounter difficulties in the process of working and studying, it is very difficult to promote and achieve outstanding achievements. However, when working alone, they still have the capacity and ability to complete their own work well, even reap great and admirable achievements.
Schizoid personality disorder causes many people to become lonely and isolated
In fact, people with discriminating personality disorder can still lead normal lives, they can still go to work and take care of their own lives. It’s just that they tend to be isolated, afraid to contact or maybe in conversations they are the ones who often give confusing opinions and words. Even so, people with ScPD do not tend to cause social harm, they do not abuse acts of violence, do not threaten the lives of others.
However, according to research, people with schizoid personality disorder are more likely to face many of the accompanying symptoms of depression. Therefore, patients will tend to be less emotional and have poor communication skills. This causes them to experience many levels of emotional turmoil inside their minds, causing many effects on their mental health.
On the other hand, some cases are aware of their differences and always have guilt, self-blame and consider themselves to be a burden on the family and society. As a result, people with schizoid personality disorder tend to not want to date, not match, and do not have a family heirloom.
Moreover, patients also tend to abuse stimulants and addictive substances such as alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, drugs similar to other personality disorders. Especially with the introverted personality, the patient will often perform the behavior alone, difficult to recognize. They are also more likely to develop psychological illnesses such as depression, anxiety disorders, and schizophrenia if not detected and appropriately intervened.
How to diagnose Schizoid personality disorder?
If you find yourself experiencing the above symptoms and doubt your strange symptoms, the best way is to consult a specialist for specific examination and diagnosis support. body. Specialists will conduct an objective assessment and evaluation of your symptoms, and ask you to perform some necessary tests.
Your doctor may also order tests for any underlying medical conditions to pinpoint the exact cause of your unusual symptoms. In most cases, the person will be advised and advised to refer to a mental health professional.
In order for a person to be diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder, they must have at least four of the following symptoms:
- Always prioritize and choose individual and separate activities.
- Little or no close relationship outside of family, even many cases do not often talk and communicate with relatives in the house.
- There is not much interest or desire for close, close personal relationships.
- Little or no interest in sex, no desire to have sex with others.
- Indifference, ignoring the judgments, compliments or criticisms of people around.
- Doesn’t seem to feel interested and attracted by most outside entertainment, entertainment and relaxation activities.
- Emotionally detached and limited in expressing and expressing their feelings.
A special thing is that people with schizoid personality disorder rarely take the initiative in the examination and treatment of the disease. Usually, when the symptoms of the disease begin to develop and severely interfere with their individual lives and various areas of life, they begin to look for remedies.
How is Schizoid personality disorder treated?
Compared with other personality disorders, such as borderline personality disorder, oppositional personality disorder, schizoid personality disorder has a better prognosis. Although the disease progression is quite diverse, if it can be detected early and applied the right interventions, patients can still improve their health, restore their mental life, and improve their relationships. will also be built and more cohesive.
Depending on the condition of each patient, experts will consider giving an appropriate treatment plan. Here are some commonly preferred methods for patients with schizoid personality disorder:
1. Psychotherapy
Currently, psychotherapy is one of the leading treatments for most mental illnesses, including schizoid personality disorder. When applying this therapy, it will help patients balance their psychological state, help arouse interest in activities happening around life. At the same time, it activates the need to build social relationships, improve the ability to express emotions and help patients comfortably communicate and live in the community.
Psychotherapy is a measure that is highly appreciated for its safety because it completely does not use drugs and does not interfere with the patient’s body. However, when applied to patients with ScPD, the results are not always as high as expected. Also because the patient’s outstanding characteristic is isolated, unconcerned with those around him, it is often difficult to respond well to psychotherapy. Moreover, the patients themselves do not have much motivation and try to change themselves.
The primary goal of psychotherapy is to help people with ScPD stimulate their need to connect with society
In addition, most cases of schizoid personality disorder are often accompanied by some symptoms of depression, emotional disturbances, and sometimes paranoia. Therefore, the psychotherapy process will help them see their own abnormal behaviors, thoughts, and trends and adjust in a more positive and correct direction.
Thanks to therapy, people with ScPD will also learn how to control and balance their emotions. They will gradually learn the skills to express their own feelings and thoughts, minimizing emotional repression. Thanks to that, the patient begins to become more open and comfortable in expressing his thoughts and feelings to the people around him.
In addition to individual therapy, people with ScPD can also be encouraged to apply group and family therapy to improve social relationships and essential life skills. After the psychotherapy process, the patient will reintegrate well into society, reduce the symptoms of isolation and gradually lead a better life.
2. Drug treatment
To date, there are no medications specifically approved for the definitive treatment of schizoaffective personality disorder. However, for some cases where the disease manifests at a serious level, the disease symptoms affect the life and health, it is necessary to consider applying some drugs.
Some antidepressant, antipsychotic, and anxiety medications will be used for patients with ScPD
Especially for patients with additional symptoms of depression, the doctor will prescribe some anti-depressants, low-dose antipsychotics or some drugs that have a good effect on the nervous system. central for improvement. These drugs will help control and relieve the symptoms of the patient, minimizing the development of more dangerous psychological diseases.
However, people with schizoid personality disorder are quite apathetic and uninterested in what’s going on around them. Therefore, to ensure safety, the use of drugs needs to be supported and carefully monitored. Patients are only allowed to use drugs according to the instructions and prescriptions of specialized doctors, absolutely not to buy drugs to use on their own to avoid possible serious consequences.
The above article has provided readers with some useful information about the condition of schizoid personality disorder. In order to minimize the negative effects on life, patients need to conduct early examination and treatment at reputable and quality specialized facilities as soon as they notice abnormal signs of themselves.
