Schizotypal Personality Disorder

 Schizotypal personality disorder is one of a group of conditions informally called "eccentric" personality disorders. People who have these disorders often seem odd or peculiar to others. They also may show unusual thinking patterns and behaviors.

What are personality disorders?

People with personality disorders have long-standing patterns of thinking and acting that differ from what society considers usual or normal. Their rigid personality traits can cause problems and interfere with many areas of life, including social and work. People with significant personality disorders generally also have poor coping skills and trouble forming healthy relationships.

Unlike people with anxiety disorders, who know that they have a problem but can’t control it, people with personality disorders generally are not aware that they have a problem and do not believe that they have anything to control.

 

Schizotypal Personality Disorder Symptoms

People with schizotypal personality disorder have odd behavior, speech patterns, thoughts, and perceptions. Other people often describe them as strange or eccentric. People who have this disorder may also:

• Dress, speak, or act in an odd or unusual way
• Be suspicious and paranoid
• Be uncomfortable or anxious in social situations due to their distrust of others
• Have few friends
• Be very uncomfortable with intimacy
• Tend to misinterpret reality or to have distorted perceptions (for example, mistaking noises for voices)
• Have odd beliefs or magical thinking (for example, being overly superstitious or thinking of themselves as psychic)
• Be preoccupied with fantasy and daydreaming
• Tend to be stiff and awkward when relating to others
• Come across as emotionally distant, aloof, or cold
• Have limited emotional responses or seem “flat”

Schizotypal Personality Disorder vs. Schizophrenia

People with schizotypal personality disorder may have odd beliefs or superstitions. They have trouble forming close relationships and tend to distort reality. In this way, schizotypal personality disorder can seem like a mild form of schizophrenia, a serious brain disorder that distorts the way a person thinks, acts, expresses emotions, perceives reality, and relates to others.