Personality and disorder

Being schizoid is primarily a personality feature, that is a permanent pattern of behavior.

This personality has some traits that are described in ICD-10 and DSM-IV.

1 - The Severity of the Symptoms

In accordance with the views expressed by DSM and ICD, a schizoid person would be considered as a person suffering schizoid disorder, when his /her symptoms are considered severe.

The symptoms – as we understand - are associated with:

+ + + +Job and relationship peoblems.

+ + + + Personal problems arising from psychological stress, which have their origin in the traits of personality

Example: Depression, dysthymia, anxiety and various psychosomatic symptoms.

+ + + + Vital and existential malaise.

The consideration of what is severe depends on the individual approach and has a strong subjective component.

On the other hand, a person, diagnosed with a schizoid disorder, could, after a period of adaptation to his /her limits and reduction of psychological stress, be in a situation where ihe /she would no longer be considered a person with such disorder:

disorder this year, but no disorder in the coming year.

However, the schizoid personality is a more stable concept because it is permanent.

We can not forget that in our culture it is a stigma to assign a person a personality disorder . That is why this label must be handled with discretion and care.

2-Normality and Pathology

Where is the personality and where the personality disorder? . What is normal and what is pathological?

As noted by Theodore Millon normality and pathology “are relative concepts;

whose levels are set arbitrarily within a continuum. "

We decide that a person is schizoid when it is markedly schizoid. It will not be sufficient to attribute this concept when the person is only a little schizoid.

We will say that he /she suffers a disorder when he/ she shows schizoid traits in a high-grade and his /her working, relational and personal situations are seriously affected.

3 - Grades

If we want to deepen, one of the things we will do is determine the grade. Being schizoid is not a question of yes or no, of nothing or all.

We can establish 3 grades, corresponding to: LITTLE or LIGHT, MIDDLE or MEDIUM, MUCH or HIGH.

Some experts think that the word “disorder” is not adequate, but if someone can be attributed to this word he is

the high grade. Every personality trait has his grade. For example, the anhedonia may be moderate or may be almost total in severe cases. The schizoid may be of high grade or if he/she go somewhat from the

established criteria, to be middle schizoid

4 - Stress Disorders

The stress occurs in situations where the person may say:

"I have to do something that I can’t do, and that goes over my limits."

This situation negatively affects the individual and his/her mental and physical health.

The schizoid does not have sufficient resources to succeed in matters relating to his/her work and relationships, such as family, friends and the society would expect him/her to.

The schizoid is doomed to have stress.

Stress, has the following effects in everyone:

1-Anxiety

2-Somatic disorders

3-Dysthymia and depression

4-Brief psychotic episodes

Anxiety is a very unpleasant emotion in the range of fear.

The most frequent somatic disorders are digestive disorders.

Dysthymia is a mild form of depression, milder but permanent.

The most characteristic features of a psychosis are delusions and hallucinations. The brief psychotic episode is a short hallucination or delusion and can affect anyone who is under stress.

The stress that the schizoid person endures makes him/her subject to stress disorders.

These disorders are stress disorders , not personality disorders.

Being schizoid leads to stress and this leads to the aforementioned disorders.

A schizoid under stress goes towards these disorders, but the one who is free from stress, doesn’t.

5 - A Psychoanalytic Explanation

Balint, a psychoanalyst, gives us in his book "The fundamental defect," an explanation of the schizoid behavior.

The defect lies in the baby’s psychic structure, which the mother was responsible for.

It was an empathy mistake, that is to say, there was a lack of empathy towards the baby from the mother and the atmosphere and this upset his “Ego”. The subject was a victim of a lack of empathy.

During the development the subject, lacks of empathy.

The subject's relationship with another person has its origin in the relationship established with the mother.

By the new relationships the subject repeats the first relationship he had with the mother and the lack of empathy that the baby had suffered happens again.

6 - Heritage and Environment

The question is: are we like we are, do we get ill like we do, because of our genetic heritage or is it the environment that marks the future of our life?

Studies conducted with twins –of the same cel and others- point to the environmental influences , but other evidence points to the genes as definite factors.

Recent studies in biology presents the question this way:

The principle lies in the genes, without which you will not see the behavior in question.

But genes are dormant, they do not have the capacity to activate themselves: it is the environment which activates the gene and the behavior accordingly. If “the signal” does not appear in the environment, the gene is not activated, it will stay latent: everything depends on the environment.

On the other hand all depends on the gene, without which the environment will not generate a permanent behavior.

(See Lipton, "The biology of belief")

To complicate the profile, the new science called Epigenetics has found that some genes can be inhibited. Certain substances, when getting in contact with certain genes, inhibit those genes, making them stay latent. This phenomenom can take place in the mother’s womb. In those cases the initial genetic heridity does not activate completely.

They are important the early experiences as activators of favorable genes.

Usually the parents are both the donors of the genes and the activators of environmental stimuli.

Hence the confusion.

7- Between normality and schizophrenia.

For some time it was said that the shizoid was somewhat as the prelude
or the pre-schizophrenic phase ....
Rather this should be considered another way .... :
If the schizoid rises to as much as maximum we would be in schizophrenia.
If the schizophrenic improves he would give positive in schizoid.
The schizoid takes the intermediate station between normalcy and schizophrenia.
If anhedonia, coldness, isolation and detachment are extreme, we'll talk about schizophrenia.
If they are moderates, we would talk about schizoid.
The schizoid, after therapy, can enter ground of normality and subjected to strong
nervous tension may be shaken by brief psychotic episodes.
(see graph)

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