Curriculum · Mental Health / Psychiatry
Schizoid personality disorder
What it is
Schizoid personality disorder is included with the Cluster A personality disorders, along with schizotypal and paranoid personality disorders. The criteria are counted: first, neither desires nor enjoys close relationships, including being part of a family; second, almost always chooses solitary activities; third, little, if any, interest in having sexual experiences; fourth, takes pleasure in few, if any, activities; fifth, lacks close friends or confidants other than first-degree relatives; sixth, shows emotional detachment and a flat affect; and last, may appear indifferent to the praise or criticism of others. The clusters themselves are three, and cluster A is the odd and eccentric one, said to be like schizophrenia. Its three members are set out: first, paranoid, suspicious and distrustful, holds grudges; second, schizoid, emotionally detached with no interest in relationships; and third, schizotypal, with odd beliefs and magic thinking, eccentric, with social anxiety. The treatment given for the cluster is low-dose antipsychotics if needed, with supportive therapy.
How it presents
A man of 31 who says his job as a computer programmer is okay because he can keep to himself and not be bothered by his coworkers, who lives alone and has never had a girlfriend, who states that he does not miss having sex, who has not seen other members of his family in quite some time and shows little interest or affection in describing his relationship with them, and who appears detached and aloof on mental status examination with a flat range of affect, carries the picture.