Schizoid personality disorder

Many schizoid individuals display an engaging, interactive personality, contradicting the observable characteristic emphasized by the DSM-5 and ICD-10 definitions of the schizoid personality. Guntrip (using ideas of Klein, Fairbairn and Winnicott) classifies these individuals as "secret schizoids", who behave with socially available, interested, engaged and involved interaction yet remain emotionally withdrawn and sequestered within the safety of the internal world.[20]^:17[34] Klein distinguishes between a "classic" SPD and a "secret" SPD, which occur "just as often" as each other. Klein cautions one should not misidentify the schizoid person as a result of the patient's defensive, compensatory interaction with the external world. He suggests one ask the person what his or her subjective experience is, to detect the presence of the schizoid refusal of emotional intimacy and preference for objective fact.[20]

Frequently, a schizoid individual's social functioning improves, sometimes dramatically, when the individual knows he is an anonymous participant in a real-time conversation or correspondence, e.g. in an online chatroom or message board. Indeed, it is often the case the individual's online correspondent will report nothing amiss in the individual's engagement and affect. A 2013 study looking at personality disorders and Internet use found that being online more hours per day predicted signs of SPD. Additionally, SPD correlated with lower phone call use and fewer Facebook friends.[35]

Descriptions of the schizoid personality as "hidden" behind an outward appearance of emotional engagement have been recognized since 1940, with Fairbairn's description of "schizoid exhibitionism", in which the schizoid individual is able to express a great deal of feeling and to make what appear to be impressive social contacts yet in reality gives nothing and loses nothing. Because they are "playing a part", their personality is not involved. According to Fairbairn, the person disowns the part he is playing, and the schizoid individual seeks to preserve his personality intact and immune from compromise.[36] The schizoid's false persona is based around what those around them define as normal or good behaviour, as a form of compliance.[29]^:143 Further references to the secret schizoid come from Masud Khan,[37] Jeffrey Seinfeld[38] and Philip Manfield,[23] who give a description of an SPD individual who "enjoys" public speaking engagements but experiences great difficulty in the breaks when audience members would attempt to engage him emotionally. These references expose the problems in relying on outer observable behavior for assessing the presence of personality disorders in certain individuals.

A pathological reliance on fantasizing and preoccupation with inner experience is often part of the schizoid withdrawal from the world. Fantasy thus becomes a core component of the self in exile, though fantasizing in schizoid individuals is far more complicated than a means of facilitating withdrawal.[20]^:64

Fantasy is also a relationship with the world and with others by proxy. It is a substitute relationship, but a relationship nonetheless, characterized by idealized, defensive and compensatory mechanisms. This is self-contained and free from the dangers and anxieties associated with emotional connection to real persons and situations.[20] Klein explains it as "an expression of the self struggling to connect to objects, albeit internal objects. Fantasy permits schizoid patients to feel connected, and yet still free from the imprisonment in relationships. In short, in fantasy one can be attached (to internal objects) and still be free."[20] This aspect of schizoid pathology has been generously elaborated in works by R. D. Laing,[22] Donald Winnicott[39] and Ralph Klein.[20]^:64

American psychoanalyst Salman Akhtar provided a comprehensive phenomenological profile of SPD in which classic and contemporary descriptive views are synthesized with psychoanalytic observations. This profile is summarized in the table reproduced below that lists clinical features that involve six areas of psychosocial functioning and are organized by "overt" and "covert" manifestations.

"Overt" and "covert" are intended to denote seemingly contradictory aspects that may both simultaneously be present in an individual.[13] These designations do not necessarily imply their conscious or unconscious existence. The covert characteristics are by definition difficult to discern and not immediately apparent. Additionally, the lack of data on the frequency of many of the features makes their relative diagnostic weight difficult to distinguish at this time. However, Akhtar states that his profile has several advantages over the DSM in terms of maintaining historical continuity of the use of the word schizoid, valuing depth and complexity over descriptive oversimplification and helping provide a more meaningful differential diagnosis of SPD from other personality disorders.[13]

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is a widely used manual for diagnosing mental disorders. DSM- 5 still includes schizoid personality disorder with the same criteria as in DSM-IV. In the DSM-5, SPD is described as a pervasive pattern of detachment from social relationships and a restricted range of expression of emotions in interpersonal settings, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by at least four of the following:[5]

1. Neither desires nor enjoys close relationships, including being part of a family.
2. Almost always chooses solitary activities.
3. Has little, if any, interest in having sexual experiences with another person.
4. Takes pleasure in few, if any, activities.
5. Lacks close friends or confidants other than first-degree relatives.
6. Appears indifferent to the praise or criticism of others.
7. Shows emotional coldness, detachment, or flattened affectivity.

According to the DSM, those with SPD may often be unable to, or will rarely express aggressiveness or hostility, even when provoked directly. These individuals can seem vague or drifting about their goals and their lives may appear directionless. Others view them as indecisive in their actions, self-absorbed, absent-minded and detached from their surroundings (''not with it'' or ''in a fog''). Excessive daydreaming is often present. In cases with severe defects in the capacity to form social relationships, dating and marriage may not be possible.[19]

The Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders of ICD-10 lists schizoid personality disorder under (F60.1).[1]

The general criteria of personality disorder (F60) should be met first. In addition, at least four of the following criteria must be present:

• Few, if any, activities provide pleasure.
• Displays emotional coldness, detachment, or flattened affectivity.
• Limited capacity to express warm, tender feelings for others as well as anger.
• Appears indifferent to either praise or criticism from others.
• Little interest in having sexual experiences with another person (taking into account age).
• Almost always chooses solitary activities.
• Excessive preoccupation with fantasy and introspection.
• Neither desires, nor has, any close friends or confiding relationships (or only one).
• Marked insensitivity to prevailing social norms and conventions; if these are not followed, this is unintentional.

Ralph Klein, Clinical Director of the Masterson Institute, delineates the following nine characteristics of the schizoid personality as described by Harry Guntrip:[20]^:13–23

• Introversion
• Withdrawnness
• Narcissism
• Self-sufficiency
• A sense of superiority
• Loss of affect
• Loneliness
• Depersonalization
• Regression

The description of Guntrip's nine characteristics should clarify some differences between the traditional DSM portrait of SPD and the traditional informed object relations view. All nine characteristics are consistent. Most, if not all, must be present to diagnose a schizoid disorder.[20]

More details about each of the characteristics can be found in the Harry Guntrip article.

Theodore Millon restricted the term "schizoid" to those personalities who lack the capacity to form social relationships. He characterizes their way of thinking as being vague and void of thoughts and as sometimes having a "defective perceptual scanning". Because they often do not perceive cues that trigger affective responses, they experience fewer emotional reactions.[28][48]

For Millon, SPD is distinguished from other personality disorders in that it is "the personality disorder that lacks a personality." He criticizes that this may be due to the current diagnostic criteria: They describe SPD only by an absence of certain traits, which results in a "deficit syndrome" or "vacuum". Instead of delineating the presence of something, they mention solely what is lacking. Therefore, it is hard to describe and research such a concept.[3]

He identified four subtypes of SPD. Any individual schizoid may exhibit none or one of the following:[3][49]

While SPD shares several symptoms with other mental disorders, there are some important differentiating features:

SPD is often found to be comorbid with at least one of several disorders or pathologies. Sometimes, a person with SPD may meet criteria for an additional personality disorder; when this happens, it is most often avoidant, schizotypal or paranoid PD.[26] Alexithymia (the inability to identify and describe emotions) is often present in SPD.[56] Sharon Ekleberry suggests that some people with schizoid personality features may occasionally experience instances of brief reactive psychosis when under stress.[26]

Very little data exists for rates of substance use disorder among people with SPD, but existing studies suggest they are less likely to have substance abuse problems than the general population. One study found that significantly fewer boys with SPD had alcohol problems than a control group of non-schizoids.[57] Another study evaluating personality disorder profiles in substance abusers found that substance abusers who showed schizoid symptoms were more likely to abuse one substance rather than many, in contrast to other personality disorders such as borderline, antisocial or histrionic, which were more likely to abuse many.[58]

American psychotherapist Sharon Ekleberry states that the impoverished social connections experienced by people with SPD limit their exposure to the drug culture and that they have limited inclination to learn how to do illegal drugs. Describing them as "highly resistant to influence", she additionally states that even if they could access illegal drugs, they would be disinclined to use them in public or social settings, and because they would be more likely to use alcohol or cannabis alone than for social disinhibition, they would not be particularly vulnerable to negative consequences in early use.[26]

Suicide may be a running theme for schizoid individuals, in part due to the knowledge of the large-scale ostracism that would result if their idiosyncratic views were revealed and their experience that most, if not all people, are unrelatable or have polar opposite reactions to them on societally sensitive issues, though they are not likely to actually attempt one. They might be down and depressed when all possible connections have been cut off, but as long as there is some relationship or even hope for one the risk will be low. The idea of suicide is a driving force against the person's schizoid defenses. As Klein says: "For some schizoid patients, its presence is like a faint, barely discernible background noise, and rarely reaches a level that breaks into consciousness. For others, it is an ominous presence, an emotional sword of Damocles. In any case, it is an underlying dread that they all experience."[20] Often among people with SPD, there is a rationally grounded and reasoned position on why they want to die, and this "suicidal construct" takes a stable position in the mind. Demonstrative suicides or suicide blackmail, as seen in cluster B personality disorders such as borderline, histrionic or antisocial, are extremely rare among schizoid individuals.[59] Schizoids tend to hide their suicidal thoughts and intentions. A 2011 study on suicidal inpatients at a Moscow hospital found that schizoids were the least common patients, while those with cluster B personality disorders were the most common.[59]

Several studies have reported an overlap or comorbidity with the autism spectrum disorder Asperger syndrome.[60][15][16] Asperger syndrome had traditionally been called "schizoid disorder of childhood", and Eugen Bleuler coined both the terms "autism" and "schizoid" to describe withdrawal to an internal fantasy, against which any influence from outside becomes an intolerable disturbance.[61] In a 2012 study of a sample of 54 young adults with Asperger syndrome, it was found that 26% of them also met criteria for SPD, the highest comorbidity out of any personality disorder in the sample (the other comorbidities were 19% for obsessive–compulsive personality disorder, 13% for avoidant personality disorder and one female with schizotypal personality disorder). Additionally, twice as many men with Asperger syndrome met criteria for SPD than women. While 41% of the whole sample were unemployed with no occupation, this rose to 62% for the Asperger's and SPD comorbid group.[15] Tantam suggested that Asperger syndrome may confer an increased risk of developing SPD.[60] A 2019 study found that 54% of a group of males aged 11 to 25 with Asperger syndrome showed significant SPD traits, with 6% meeting full diagnostic criteria for SPD, compared to 0% of a control.[16]

In the 2012 study, it was noted that the DSM may complicate diagnosis by requiring the exclusion of a pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) before establishing a diagnosis of SPD. The study found that social interaction impairments, stereotyped behaviours and specific interests were more severe in the individuals with Asperger syndrome also fulfilling SPD criteria, against the notion that social interaction skills are unimpaired in SPD. The authors believe that substantial subgroup of people with autism spectrum disorder or PDD have clear "schizoid traits" and correspond largely to the "loners" in Lorna Wing's classification The autism spectrum (Lancet 1997), described by Sula Wolff.[15] The authors of the 2019 study hypothesised that it is extremely likely that historic cohorts of adults diagnosed with SPD either also had childhood-onset autistic syndromes or were misdiagnosed. They stressed that further research to clarify overlap and distinctions between these two syndromes was strongly warranted, especially given that high-functioning autism spectrum disorders are now recognised in around 1% of the population.[62]

A study which looked at the body mass index (BMI) of a sample of both male adolescents diagnosed with SPD and those diagnosed with Asperger syndrome found that the BMI of all patients was significantly below normal. Clinical records indicated abnormal eating behaviour by some patients. Some patients would only eat when alone and refused to eat out. Restrictive diets and fears of disease were also found. It was suggested that the anhedonia of SPD may also cover eating, leading schizoid individuals to not enjoy it. Alternatively, it was suggested that schizoid individuals may not feel hunger as strongly as others or not respond to it, a certain withdrawal "from themselves".[3]

Another study looked at rates of anti-social conduct in boys with either schizoid personality disorder or Asperger syndrome compared with a control group of non-schizoid individuals and found the incidence of anti-social conduct to be the same in both groups. However, the schizoid boys stole significantly less. Upon follow-up in adulthood, out of a matched group of 19 boys with SPD and 19 boys without, four of the schizoid boys reported having exclusively internal violent fantasies (concerned with Zulu wars, abattoirs, fascists and communists and a collection of knives, respectively), which were pursued entirely by themselves, while the only non-schizoid subject to report a violent fantasy life shared his with a group of young men (dressing up and riding motorcycles as a self-styled "panzer" group).[57]

An absent parent or socio-economic disadvantage did not seem to affect the risk of anti-social conduct in schizoid individuals as much as it did in non-schizoid individuals. Absent parents and parental socio-economic disadvantage were also less common in the schizoid group.[57]

No medications are indicated for directly treating schizoid personality disorder, but certain medications may reduce the symptoms of SPD as well as treat co-occurring mental disorders. The symptoms of SPD mirror the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, such as anhedonia, blunted affect and low energy, and SPD is thought to be part of the "schizophrenic spectrum" of disorders, which also includes the schizotypal and paranoid personality disorders, and may benefit from the medications indicated for schizophrenia.[18] Originally, low doses of atypical antipsychotics like risperidone or olanzapine were used to alleviate social deficits and blunted affect.[7] However, a 2012 review concluded that atypical antipsychotics were ineffective for treating personality disorders.[17]

In contrast, the substituted amphetamine bupropion may be used to treat anhedonia.[7] Likewise, modafinil may be effective in treating some of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, which are reflected in the symptomatology of SPD and therefore may help as well.[67] Lamotrigine, SSRIs, TCAs, MAOIs and hydroxyzine may help counter social anxiety in people with SPD if present, though social anxiety may not be a main concern for the people who have SPD. However, it is not general practice to treat SPD with medications, other than for the short-term treatment of acute co-occurring axis I conditions (e.g. depression).[18]

Despite the relative emotional comfort, psychoanalytic therapy of schizoid individuals takes a long time and causes many difficulties.[68] Schizoids are generally poorly involved in psychotherapy due to difficulties in establishing empathic relations with a psychotherapist and low motivation for treatment.[69]

Supportive psychotherapy is used in an inpatient or outpatient setting by a trained professional that focuses on areas such as coping skills, improvement of social skills and social interactions, communication and self-esteem issues. People with SPD may also have a perceptual tendency to miss subtle differences in expression. That causes an inability to pick up hints from the environment because social cues from others that might normally provoke an emotional response are not perceived. That in turn limits their own emotional experience.[28] The perception of varied events only increases their fear for intimacy and limits them in their interpersonal relationships. Their aloofness may limit their opportunities to refine the social skills and behavior necessary to effectively pursue relationships.

Besides psychodynamic therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can be used. But because CBT generally begins with identifying the automatic thoughts, one should be aware of the potential hazards that can happen when working with schizoid patients. People with SPD seem to be distinguished from those with other personality disorders in that they often report having few or no automatic thoughts at all. That poverty of thought may have to do with their apathetic lifestyle. But another possible explanation could be the paucity of emotion many schizoids display, which would influence their thought patterns as well.[28]

Socialization groups may help people with SPD. Educational strategies in which people who have SPD identify their positive and negative emotions also may be effective. Such identification helps them to learn about their own emotions and the emotions they draw out from others and to feel the common emotions with other people with whom they relate. This can help people with SPD create empathy with the outside world.

The concept of "closer compromise" means that the schizoid patient may be encouraged to experience intermediate positions between the extremes of emotional closeness and permanent exile.[20] A lack of injections of interpersonal reality causes an impoverishment in which the schizoid individual's self-image becomes increasingly empty and volatilized and leads the individual to feel unreal.[22] To create a more adaptive and self-enriching interaction with others in which one "feels real", the patient is encouraged to take risks through greater connection, communication and sharing of ideas, feelings and actions. Closer compromise means that while the patient's vulnerability to anxieties is not overcome, it is modified and managed more adaptively. Here, the therapist repeatedly conveys to the patient that anxiety is inevitable but manageable, without any illusion that the vulnerability to such anxiety can be permanently dispensed with. The limiting factor is the point at which the dangers of intimacy become overwhelming and the patient must again retreat.

Klein suggests that patients must take the responsibility to place themselves at risk and to take the initiative for following through with treatment suggestions in their personal lives. It is emphasized that these are the therapist's impressions and that he or she is not reading the patient's mind or imposing an agenda but is simply stating a position that is an extension of the patient's therapeutic wish. Finally, the therapist directs attention to the need to employ these actions outside of the therapeutic setting.[20]

Klein suggests that "working through" is the second longer-term tier of psychotherapeutic work with schizoid patients. Its goals are to change fundamentally the old ways of feeling and thinking and to rid oneself of the vulnerability to those emotions associated with old feelings and thoughts. A new therapeutic operation of "remembering with feeling" that draws on D. W. Winnicott's concepts of false self and true self is called for.[20] The patient must remember with feeling the emergence of his or her false self through childhood and remember the conditions and proscriptions that were imposed on the individual's freedom to experience the self in company with others.[20]

Remembering with feeling ultimately leads the patient to understand that he or she had no opportunity to choose from a selection of possible ways of experiencing the self and of relating with others and had few, if any, options other than to develop a schizoid stance toward others. The false self was simply the best way in which the patient could experience the repetitive predictable acknowledgement, affirmation and approval necessary for emotional survival while warding off the effects associated with the abandonment depression.[20]

If the goal of shorter-term therapy is for patients to understand that they are not the way they appear to be and can act differently, then the longer-term goal of working through is for patients to understand who and what they are as human beings, what they truly are like and what they truly contain. The goal of working through is not achieved by the patient's sudden discovery of a hidden, fully formed talented and creative self living inside, but is a process of slowly freeing oneself from the confinement of abandonment depression in order to uncover a potential. It is a process of experimentation with the spontaneous, nonreactive elements that can be experienced in relationship with others.

Working through abandonment depression is a complicated, lengthy and conflicted process that can be an enormously painful experience in terms of what is remembered and what must be felt. It involves mourning and grieving for the loss of the illusion that the patient had adequate support for the emergence of the real self. There is also a mourning for the loss of an identity, the false self, which the person constructed and with which he or she has negotiated much of his or her life. The dismantling of the false self requires relinquishing the only way that the patient has ever known of how to interact with others. This interaction was better than not to have a stable, organized experience of the self, no matter how false, defensive or destructive that identity may be.

The dismantling of the false self "leaves the impaired real self with the opportunity to convert its potential and its possibilities into actualities."[20] Working through brings unique rewards, of which the most important element is the growing realization that the individual has a fundamental, internal need for relatedness that may be expressed in a variety of ways. "Only schizoid patients", suggests Klein, "who have worked through the abandonment depression ... ultimately will believe that the capacity for relatedness and the wish for relatedness are woven into the structure of their beings, that they are truly part of who the patients are and what they contain as human beings. It is this sense that finally allows the schizoid patient to feel the most intimate sense of being connected with humanity more generally, and with another person more personally. For the schizoid patient, this degree of certainty is the most gratifying revelation, and a profound new organizer of the self experience."[20]^:127