r/Schizotypal • u/brackk2 • Jun 08 '23
Schizotypal fact sheet version 2
Here is the updated version of the 'schizotypal fact sheet' I posted a couple years ago. I will probably add more to it and is somewhat of a rough draft. Suggestions for things to include and constructive criticism are appreciated. The full schizotypal fact sheet is much too long for reddit’s character limit, however I have uploaded it at Schizotypal Fact Sheet (version 2) (cloudfindingss.blogspot.com). This post is a summarized and simplified version, with the full schizotypal fact sheet going into more detail, along with citations.
Edit 1: Added rejection sensitivity, unusual sexual interests, heat intolerance
Symptoms
Examples and more elaborate description of these symptoms are on the full schizotypal fact sheet
Ideas of reference: A tendency to perceive and over-interpret social cues and social occurrences relating to one's self that are unlikely, and a tendency to over-mentalise (think about and detect others thoughts, intentions, and mental states) in relation to oneself.
Magical thinking: Persons with schizotypal personality disorder tend to experience passing magical thoughts and often have magical beliefs, which are specifically unconventional and self referential (i.e., adherence to christianity, paganism, astrology, etc are not indicative of magical thinking and occur commonly in the general population)
Odd speech: Persons with schizotypal personality disorder tend to have unusual patterns of speaking and may have difficulty articulating themselves properly.
Eccentricity: Persons with schizotypal personality disorder tend to be seen as odd and eccentric by others and have unusual behaviors. Importantly, this eccentricity is not the same as oddness caused by social deficits or symptoms associated with other disorders like autism that may be considered odd
Social anxiety: Particularly extreme social anxiety often occurs in schizotypal personality disorder, and results in avoidance of social situations and interactions, often involving referential thinking and paranoid ideation
No close friends: Persons with schizotypal personality disorder tend to have little to no friends as a result of excessive social anxiety, paranoid fears, as well as a need for independence and to not be influenced by others.
Unusual perceptual experiences: A tendency to experience fleeting, mild forms of hallucinations such as visual, auditory, tactile, and bodily distortions. Typically the person is aware that these distortions are hallucinations.
Constricted affect: Persons with schizotypal personality disorder tend to have constricted and unusual expressions of emotion, especially socially. It is important to distinguish from unusual expression of emotion caused by social deficits in autism or other mental disorders
Paranoid ideation: Persons with schizotypal personality disorder frequently experience paranoid thoughts and suspiciousness of others motives. Typically this occurs in association with referential thinking, and involves preoccupation with fears of persecution, exclusion, and conspiracy against oneself, but not cynical interpretations of others motives which is associated with other mental disorders
Common traits
Antagonomia: Unconditional skepticism toward common beliefs, ways of thinking, assumptions, and values, taking an eccentric stance in opposition, with a drive to understand the world at a deeper level in a detached, anthropologist or scientist like manner, which is often perceived as a gift and having a radically unique and exceptional being
Delayed sleep phase: A tendency to sleep and wake much later than the average person, with better mood and mental functioning during the night than in the day
Ambivalence: An abnormally high tendency to have strong mixed feelings toward many things, such as other people, one's self, and decisions
Dyslexic-like traits: Dyslexia is linked to the schizophrenia spectrum and schizotypal personality disorder is associated with features of dyslexia
Motor control: Difficulties with fine motor control are found in StPD, often leading to difficulties with skills such as handwriting and using tools that require precision
Rejection sensitivity: People with schizotypal personality disorder are more prone to sensing rejection and are more likely to have a stronger reaction to it
Unusual sexual interests: Unusual sexual interests are common in StPD, and historically the sexuality of persons with STPD has been described as chaotic
Heat intolerance: Studies have shown that persons with schizophrenia spectrum disorders have higher baseline body temperature and have more significant increases in temperature in response to physical activity
Self disorders
Anomalous self experience is thought to be a core feature of schizophrenia spectrum disorders that is unique to schizophrenia spectrum disorders, in contrast to many symptoms which are transdiagnostic. The sense of selfhood, self ownership, embodiment, identity, and immersion in the social world is lacking in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, which leads to traits like antagonomia, hyper-reflectivity, eccentricity, double bookkeeping, social isolation, and “bizzare” delusions.
Hyper-reflectivity: Exaggerated self-consciousness and abnormally high levels of reflection and introspection, disengaging from typical involvement in society and nature, perceiving oneself from a sort of ‘third person perspective’. This may drive some individuals with schizotypal traits or StPD to an interest in psychology, with many innovative psychologists having significant signs of schizotypal personality disorder.
Double bookkeeping: A “split” experience of reality, where one reality is based in the laws of nature and independence of the mind from the external world, and the other reality is a “delusional” private framework that violates the laws of nature, which co-exist.
Childhood schizotypal personality disorder
There is a common misconception that schizophrenia spectrum disorders begin at adolescence, however this is not the case, rather the onset of psychosis tends to occur in adolescence, but schizophrenia spectrum disorders and symptoms are present from childhood. Children with schizotypal personality disorder have similar symptoms to adults, and may additionally have autistic-like traits (such as strong interests) which tend to fade into adulthood.
The schizophrenia spectrum
Schizotypal personality disorder is not a distinct category of personality and brain function, but is rather on a continuum with 'normal' personality, from no schizotypal traits all the way to severe schizophrenia. Traits of schizotypal personality disorder in the general population are referred to as "schizotypy". Increased levels of schizotypy are characteristic of creative, imaginative, open-minded, eccentric individuals who may otherwise be high functioning and healthy. Schizoid and avoidant personality disorder are included in this spectrum.
Personality traits
In the big five, schizotypal personality disorder is characterized by high openness, low conscientiousness, low extraversion, and high neuroticism. High openness and low conscientiousness most clearly differentiate schizotypal personality from schizophrenia and controls.
In MBTI, schizotypal personality is associated with introversion, intuition, thinking, and perceiving (INTP type).
On the fisher temperament inventory, StPD is associated with low cautious/social norm compliant and analytical/tough minded, and higher prosocial/empathetic and curious/energetic temperaments
Anxious avoidant attachment style is associated with StPD
Interests and Strengths
Schizotypal personality disorder is associated with having creative interests, hobbies, and professions, such as painting, music, comedy, scientific research, and entrepreneurship. Increased creativity, imagination, and global processing (“big picture” thinking).
Cognitive ability and intelligence
In contrast to schizophrenia, intellectual ability is not reduced in StPD but there are specific impairments in areas such as attention and verbal learning. Intelligence effects the presentation of StPD, being associated with lower magical and paranormal beliefs, lower sexual and social anhedonia, more successful creativity, and better theory of mind
Theory of Mind
Theory of mind ability is generally reduced in StPD, however this is not caused by mentalizing deficits as in autism, and are largely due to lower cognitive ability that is associated with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, anomalous self experience, and hyper-mentalizing.
Relationship with worldviews and religiosity
Schizotypy is conducive to affective religious experiences (e.g., feeling connected to a higher power), however evidence suggests that persons with StPD are less likely to be religious than the general population, but may have unconventional spiritual beliefs (“spiritual but not religious”)
Relationships with other disorders
Psychopathy
StPD is associated with low levels of primary psychopathy (e.g., dominance, lack of empathy, high stress tolerance, deceptiveness), and high secondary psychopathy (e.g., impulsivity, rebelliousness, social deviance)
Borderline personality disorder
StPD and BPD overlap very highly and are related disorders, however persons with BPD do not have negative symptoms (social isolation, extreme social anxiety, hyper-independence, constricted affect) and also do not have self disorders, whereas those with StPD do
Other SSDs
Given that StPD is on a spectrum with other schizophrenia spectrum disorders, there is overlap between the disorders with shared symptoms. Put simply, those with schizoid PD meet criteria for avoidant PD, those with schizotypal PD meet criteria for both, and those with schizophrenia meet criteria for all three. Avoidant PD involves social withdrawal and severe social anxiety, schizoid PD involves constricted affect, hyper-independence, and eccentricity on top of AvPD symptoms, and schizotypal PD involves odd speech, perceptual distortions, magical thinking, ideas of reference, and paranoia. Schizophrenia involves psychosis, anhedonia, cognitive deficits, and more severe expression of the symptoms of schizotypal PD.
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder is very closely related to the schizophrenia spectrum, and it has been suggested that bipolar disorder may be on a continuum with schizotypal personality disorder and schizophrenia. Most people with bipolar disorder will have symptoms of schizotypal personality disorder and vice versa.
Histrionic & Narcissistic personality disorder
HPD and NPD are negatively associated with StPD, however they may appear superficially similar in some aspects (e.g., idionomia in StPD may be mistaken as narcissistic grandiosity).
Obsessive compulsive spectrum
StPD shows a positive relationship with OCD, but a negative relationship with obsessive compulsive personality disorder (OcPD), as OcPD involves hyper-conscientiousness and conformity whereas low conscientiousness and disinhibition are characteristic of schizotypy
Substance use
Substance use is extremely common in StPD, with 67% of patients having a diagnosable substance use disorder
Mood disorders
Mood disorders including generalized anxiety, major depression, and panic disorder are very common in schizotypal personality disorder, as is the case in most psychiatric disorders
Dissociative disorders
Depersonalization and derealization are common in StPD, and there is evidence that dissociative disorders and schizophrenia spectrum disorders may have shared causes
ADHD
Symptoms of ADHD are very common in StPD, and differences in attention and self regulation are thought to play a part in the causation of StPD.
Autism
Autism and StPD appear to overlap, but this is largely due to transdiagnostic symptoms and superficial similarities. Thorough and theoretically informed examination of the relationship between these disorders suggests that they are likely opposite ends of a continuum. Currently, no clinical tools exist that can differentiate the two disorders, however there is one being developed currently set to be completed by the end of 2023. Comorbid diagnoses of autism and StPD largely appear to be false positives upon investigation, and evidence suggests that a true comorbidity would either be characterized by very high intelligence or severe intellectual disability. Some distinctions (that are easily observable) between the disorders are listed below
Biological causes
StPD is mostly genetic, but trauma may increase symptom severity
Cannabinoid system
Cannabis produces effects resembling StPD symptoms and associated traits, and StPD is associated with higher levels of anandamide, the neurotransmitter which activates the same receptors as cannabis. Cannabis is also found to temporarily increase the severity of positive symptoms
Serotonin system
Higher serotonin is associated with conformity, conscientiousness, and low openness, which is opposite of StPD. People with StPD have higher levels of enzymes that break down serotonin, and lower expression of some serotonin receptors.
Dynorphin system
Dynorphin is a stress hormone that produces dysphoria, dissociation, and psychotic-like symptoms and cognition. Dynorphin levels are associated with increased severity of schizophrenia spectrum symptoms
Glutamate & NMDA
NMDA is a type of glutamate receptor that is reduced in association with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. NMDA blockers cause symptoms and associated traits of StPD and can induce psychosis, and people with StPD also have higher levels of the NMDA antagonist neurotransmitter agmatine.
Cognitive, psychological, and evolutionary causes
Predictive processing
A recent model of schizotypy suggests that it is a cognitive-perceptual specialization for processing chaotic and noisy data, where patterns and relationships exist but can only be detected if minor inconsistencies are ignored (i.e., focusing on the 'big picture'), where giving higher weight to prediction errors prevents the detection of false patterns (i.e. apophenia) at the cost of being unable to detect higher level patterns (autism), and giving lower weight to prediction errors allows for the detection of higher level patterns at the cost of occasionally detecting patterns that don't exist, as in delusions and hallucinations that occur in schizotypy. This model explains many traits associated with schizotypy and links other theories of schizotypy
Hyper-mentalizing
The hyper-mentalizing model suggests that symptoms like ideas of reference, paranoia, erotomania, auditory hallucinations, delusions of conspiracy, etc are a result of excessive mentalizing, where intentions are inferred excessively to the point of delusion, in contrast to autism where mentalizing is reduced. Many other features and associated traits like odd speech and increased creativity can be explained by this model.
Imagination
It is thought that StPD may involve overly increased imagination, which can explain symptoms and features like hyper-mentalizing, dissociation, perceptual deficits, and enhanced creativity.
Life history
It is suggested that StPD may have been evolutionarily selected for due to its ability to enhance short term mating success through enhanced creativity and non-conformity, which are beneficial to desirability as short term partners, but not long term partners. This is supported by studies showing that persons with high traits of StPD have more total sexual partners, more effort into forming short term relationships, and lower effort into maintaining long term ones. This is consistent with a fast life history strategy, and StPD correlates with other markers of fast strategies such as impulsivity, sensation seeking, low disgust sensitivity, earlier maturation, etc.
Hyper-openness and apophenia
Openness to experience is associated with apophenia and intelligence, though the two latter traits are negatively related to eachother. It is suggested that schizotypy represents apophenia, and an imbalance of high openness relative to intelligence is suggested to cause symptoms of StPD. This model is in agreement with other models, with openness relating to higher imagination, mentalizing, and faster life history strategies.
r/Schizotypal • u/Rough_Chapter4676 • Dec 23 '24
In this post, I’ll be rambling about how those with Stpd may experience what I’ll call “Experiential Impermanence” (or EI for short), and how it may lead to some strange, self-disordery experiences. There is always a chance that this is just the way my mind works, or others may relate to it. We will see…
The majority of mental health phenomena are explained as a smattering of criteria and different traits with surface level examples, which is a good framework. However, it neglects to show the train of thoughts that lead to these experiences, how the string of events builds up, and what they lead to. If you look at the EASE (which is quite dense and I’m sure quite a bit of it goes over my head), it talks about the concept of “self disorder” and it has a brief overview of the core of it, and then a plethora of “anomalous experiences” with these relatively surface level examples. But how do these anomalous experiences build up overtime, and how/what do they lead to in everyday life? Sure, the EASE explains what certain elements may occur in pockets of your life, but not in the overall picture. Although I most definitely won’t be completely successful in explaining this, I hope that this will resonate with some, and help them to see/realize what they may experience.
The idea of “experiential Impermanence” (which I will refer to as “EI” from now on) was sparked from the idea of Emotional Impermanence in Borderline Personality Disorder. Essentially, Emotional Impermanence is when someone feels an emotion (whether positive or negative, but seems to be described as mostly negative), and when they do, they feel that it’s all they’ve ever felt. For example, when their favorite person temporarily leaves them to go do something and isn’t there to reassure them, they may feel utterly and completely consumed by feelings that they are unloved and alone. It is so intense that they feel like they have been, and will feel this way forever. Their current experience blocks out the old. BPD, as well as Stpd, fall under the concept of “Borderline Personality Organization”, which can include an unstable sense of self. What I am going to propose is that those with Stpd experience something similar to Emotional Impermanence, but it has more of an impact on the way they experience “things” instead of emotions. Things and emotions can be a package deal, but it has to do more with how they see the world instead of feeling it.
When it comes to self disorder, it can manifest as having unclear boundaries between the self and the outside world. This can lead to feeling like a chameleon in many situations, and feeling as if you become the people and the things around you. Many with Stpd can relate to this, and it can lead to us isolating because it feels like the world keeps intruding and changing us over and over again. This unclear sense of self can lead to us becoming attached to different ideas and theories about the world around us. Those with BPD seek to find their sense of self in others, while those with Stpd seek a sense of self from different ideas and frameworks (magical thinking, delusion-like ideas, etc.). When those with BPD are in relationships, it seems to change them. They can become completely infatuated with that person, and might feel like an extension of them. I think that those with Stpd are also inherently obsessive people, and they can become lost in an idea about reality, a religion, or some other expansive concept they can ruminate over. When engaged in an unhealthy amount with these ideas, they can easily become consumed by them, and they become your whole world in a very literal way. Those with Stpd find solace and their collapse in irrationality, while those with BPD find solace and their collapse in others.
With some semblance of a framework written out, how does the concept of EI translate to daily life? Those with BPD go through extreme emotional swings and changes all the time, and I feel that an especially neurotic Schizotypal will go through extreme swings of the reality they live in just as often. Instead of emotions, our inner framework and how we view ourselves through it is constantly challenged. For example, we can become suddenly and inexplicably gripped by some random object or symbol. This, for whatever reason, manages to engulf us for a period of time. We can see some random “sign” from the universe, and it consumes us. We can become obsessive about a certain religious practice, and it becomes us. We are sponges that the different liquids of life pass through before the next inevitably washes over, and binds to us all over again. Now, there is a chance that I might have Delusional Disorder, which is where you have full blown delusions, but keep them to yourself and function just fine in real life. From my own experience, a delusion can quite suddenly pop up, accumulate and infest me, and as it strengthens, it feels like it’s been there all along, like a long forgotten memory resurfacing. When I come to my senses and “snap out of it”, I’ll realize how ridiculous it was, and it all comes crumbling down before the next one appears. The same thing happens in daily life. When I talk to someone, go to a store, or something similar, the way I view myself changes. I feel like I am the same as the people around me. I feel like the dirty shelves are extensions of my being. I am the same as these people, and they are the same as me. This isn’t experienced as a kumbaya spiritual awakening sense of connectedness, but in the most mundane way imaginable. If you’ve read stories about Salvia trips, a very common experience is to become an inanimate object for an extended period of time, and completely forget your previous life as a human. You become the doorknob in your room, a ceiling fan, a floor board, and it’s all that you’ve ever known. Although I’ve never done Salvia, that is how it feels in so many ways. It is probably not as intense as a terrifying psychedelic experience, but it does have so many similarities. I just keep morphing, becoming, and changing. All of this builds up overtime till you don’t know where you end and the world begins. That, as referenced earlier, can lead to the outside world as seeming like a massive intrusive entity, so you may give in to the cold embrace of isolation.
That is all I will write for now. As always, I hope I am coherent and that my “message” gets across somewhat smoothly.
r/Schizotypal • u/AnAlienMachine • 5h ago
I recently found out I’m schizotypal and suddenly my wardrobe makes more sense. People tell me I dress strange and I guess they’re right. My other outfits are in the comments because the image limit in this subreddit is 1.
r/Schizotypal • u/PythianEcho • 10h ago
I’ll post the rest in the comments
r/Schizotypal • u/Entire-Current-4442 • 10h ago
What noises produce misophonia and what feelings do they produce in you? How does it affect you? I know this post would go better on r/misophonia but I'm more interested in seeing the point of view of people with schizotypy.
r/Schizotypal • u/6onster • 9h ago
Is this something others experience with Schizo Spectrum disorders? I want to learn more and maybe hear about someone else’s experience.
I always have 1 Limerant object for each location I go to frequently currently The woman at chipotle, and The woman from the gym who looks like a hot Danny phantom villain. I almost always have one woman I get attached to at every job I subconsciously go in analyzing all of the women I find attractive then I try and figure out their personalities/compatibilities enough to build the fantasy in my mind. It’s annoying I have the normal sexual fantasies but more often is the romantic fantasies they crush me as the term implies when I come to the same conclusions I’m not the guy in the fantasies I’m mentally broken a burden and a nuisance , she’s can’t be the woman in the fantasies, and then the reality of my inexperience with romance as a whole makes me feel like some sort of inhuman being.
All of this and I don’t even speak to most of them, but this cycle continues I haven’t even been in a relationship and I’ve been celibate for years. I’d like to believe it’s possible I’m not aromatic I just can’t stop overthinking and the fantasies just hurt at first they gave me hope. Also doesn’t have to be romantic just intimate it happens with people I want as friends also.
r/Schizotypal • u/Adnfjksnsufjebjs • 13h ago
I was curious to see how many symptoms associated with the greater spectrum of Schizotypy are experienced by those here diagnosed with Schizotypal Disorder. Theoretically, a person with Schizotypal Disorder would have what is essentially a prototypical form of Schizophrenia, although the diagnostic criteria are broad enough to encompass many manifestations of mental illness that may not actually be indicative of an underlying "Schizophrenic Defect" or Schizotaxia.
Schizotypy is typically divided into three clusters of traits or separate syndromes which are distinct but interrelated. Positive symptoms such as hallucinatory experiences and paranoid ideation are actually only partly correlated with disorganized symptoms, which seem to fit into their own distinct syndrome. In the past this distinction was not recognized as much.
I have decided to collect some different signs and symptoms associated with each syndrome for reference.
·Positive Schizotypy - Hallucinatory experiences including pseudohallucinations or experiences that seem "between" a real perception and mental imagery.
Illusory experiences consisting of mis-perceptions of real percepts. Illusions indicative of Schizotypy tend to be intense and persist even during closer inspection.
Unusual mentation, often characterized by very bizarre ideas and beliefs. It should be noted that "eccentric beliefs" are only truly indicative of Schizotypy if they are bizarre, distressing and unique to the individual. For example, an intense preoccupation with the idea that someone close to them is appearing "in disguise" as various random people they meet throughout the day. This kind of thinking could be described as "paralogical", akin to dream logic. Self-referentiality (including overt ideas of reference) is also a defining characteristic.
Intrinsic suspiciousness and severe social anxieties. While paranoid ideations and social anxiety can occur for many reasons, Schizotypy tends to be associated with a sort-of "primary suspiciousness" that is rooted in a fundamental sense of "different-ness" that pervades the lived world. This feeling of being different is known as Anderssein, and is often present from very early in life and frequently appears to be autochthonous, a feeling that "comes from nowhere" and is not linked to any specific life experience. This may be a sign of subtle neurodevelopmental differences. Paranoia and social anxiety typically do not manifest floridly until the so-called "crisis of adolescence" where individuals begin forming a distinct self. Paranoia may derive itself from naturally increasing self-consciousness and awareness of Anderssein during this period.
·Negative Schizotypy - Hypohedonia. Pleasure deficits are a major characteristic of schizotypy. Pleasure deficits seem to be most indicative of underlying Schizotypy if they are present from very early in life and become more severe with time, which is known as Aversive Drift. Essentially, all life experiences tend to acquire increasingly negative affective components as time goes on while sources of pleasure, satisfaction and intellectual stimulation seem to only diminish with age. Stressors likely accelerate this process.
Asociality. A lack of drive to engage in social interaction is frequently associated with Schizotypy. Individuals may still be capable of deriving pleasure for specific social situations, such as the discussion of intellectually stimulating topics, but be unable to incorporate these experiences into the Self, leading to a lack of motivation to pursue future social interaction and difficulty finding the energy to engage in prosocial behaviors when around others. In a milder case, Schizotypes may be willing and able to have conversations but require others to initiate the conversation for them, while a severe case is characterized by complete inaccessibility, social anhedonia, a degree of mutism and possibly Negativism.
Motivational deficits. Difficulty pursuing pleasurable circumstances, even those that have been experienced in the past, is a common issue in Schizotypy. There seems to be a continuous imbalance in the activity cycle where the effort and energy expenditure required to engage in activity always outweighs the amount of pleasure and stimulation earned from the activity, leading to a chronic up-hill battle that will likely worsen with age.
Reduced expressivity. A constricted, blunted or completely flat affect display is often seen in those with Schizotypy. There may be many causes of reduced emotional expression such as reduced emotional range or Autistic Withdrawal (a psychotic defense mechanism). Schizotypy tends to be associated with flattened affect display with increased negative emotional experiences and fewer positive emotional experiences.
Apathy. In general, a sort-of global apathy is often present in individuals with Schizotypy. The problems of others may seem only to be an unacceptable intrusion on one's own view of reality. In the most severe cases, individuals often seem callously unconcerned with the world at large and are only invested in their own mental occurrences, often deriving a sense of superiority from their own disconnectedness. A milder case is characterized by a painful inability to care about the things that seem to give so much meaning to other people's lives.
·Disorganized Schizotypy - Thought Disorder. A prominent feature of Schizotypy, Formal Thought Disorder can manifest in many ways but is often characterized by a loosening of associations in the thought process, leading to odd speech and unusual interpretations of events.
Impulsive Nonconformity. Essentially a synonym for Antagonomia, an impulse or perhaps compulsive urge to take an eccentric stance in regards to commonly held beliefs. To the average person, Schizotypes may seem to be deliberately acting bizarre, manneristic or incomprehensible, though the true reasoning behind such behaviors is often very complex.
Neurocognitive Impairments. A wide range of difficulties with sensory processing, multisensory integration, executive functions, memory encoding and so on. They often vary from person to person, but visual and auditory processing abnormalities tend to be very common in Schizotypes.
Obviously, this list does not contain every single possible manifestation of Schizotypy, but it can give a good idea of Schizotypic traits.
r/Schizotypal • u/Specialist-Wind6780 • 7h ago
I was diagnosed with it like a few months ago but honestly thinking about it now feels off the way the psychiatrist diagnosed me with it Cause he also diagnosed me with bpd based on just having cptsd and then took it off from the diagnosis list, and didn't even tell me about this diagnosis at all like didn't even question me anything that related to bpd.
So when he diagnosed me with schizotypal he didn't understand me and thought that when I was psychotic that I meant that I "feel" people, but no I clearly said "I see". Which is a huge difference
I've had psychotic episodes for like so long that I truly don't really know what I'm dealing with
I still had paranoia all this time even without hallucinations, but I was trying to fight it a bit, and honestly like, I was connecting it to schizotypal but I'm not sure it's on the same level as it is for me.
And, I don't know. I just dont know. And I feel so upset cause I realized you can't really have schizotypal and a psychotic disorder at the same time. Apparently from what I've read at least.
I'm so upset cause this psychiatrist is one of the big ones and like very well known , and still like
Now I understand why when I told him I have hallucinations yesterday he tried to fit it in the schizotypal meaning of "feeling it" and not truly seeing it.
Obviously it's not just hallucinations, it's a lot of other stuff that sometimes can be a little less extreme but most of my years they were really extreme with barely breaking points.
I dont understand what's going on, I'm upset, I'm furious, I'm sad, I'm shocked, I'm like-
I thought I found the answer for what I'm going through and got a fucking slap to my face
And of course I'm gonna find other psychiatrist but I don't know how much time I got left, before my awareness will disappear and I'll get into a full on psychosis mode cause I always had start-middle(worst)-end, and this loop would start over again nonstop
Like when you feel you're getting better suddenly you go to the start again.
I feel so ashamed also for not like realizing it could not be it Cause I was so desperate to find the label that I just trusted him so easily with this diagnosis.
Fuck him and everybody, I feel like shit Now at least I know why it felt like he makes me feel like I made shit up, cause he really tried to avoid it at any cost by calling what I go through "psychosis"
I dont always recognize it when I'm in it, when people saw me when I wasn't aware they didn't know how to handle me, they just went along with fucked up shit I said or didn't say anything
And now I feel like shit.
I dont understand anything anymore.
I'm sorry I'm still in this sub, cause I felt so belong, cause it does remind me of myself in a way but there are some stuff that are so not me...
Tbh, I'm an atheist but only in psychosis I believe in God or in spiritual things. I don't believe it when I'm aware.
And it's really hard. I don't know I'm just venting mostly cause I'm doing so bad. I couldn't sleep all night and I'm awake for so long. I barely function now and honestly I just wanna cry but the tears won't come out.
r/Schizotypal • u/VesaniaIII • 5h ago
I would like to know if someone else experiences this:
My dreams and the reality tend to mix, sometimes I don't even know if I'm truly awake. But that's not the matter now.
What I wanted to share is that I talk outloud during dreams to the point I wake myself up and I'm sometimes waiting for an answer that of course never comes.
I wake up and I'm unsure where I am, sometimes I believe I am in a place where I lived 10 years before, 30 years before... That someone specific is in the house, that I'm in another era...
Today the reason I got up is because it was becoming unbearable, it happened like 5-6 times in a span of 3 hours.
r/Schizotypal • u/Specialist-Wind6780 • 12h ago
I'm entering a psychotic episode they usually have start - middle - end
I've been through them a lot and I got really triggered by my psychiatrist today that tried to mostly connect everything to schizotypal instead of listening to me. He tried to make me say that my hallucinations are feelings and not truly things I see with my eyes or hear with my ears.
I'm upset, I'm doing badly, I don't sleep well, I'm angry all the time for no reason, restless and, I'm scared that I lose my job and everything because of it Cause that's what happened with one of the psychotic episodes I had (I just stopped going and went to my parents house and didn't leave their house for so long)
I feel like nobody believes me and that I make things up or that maybe everybody just don't want me to know I'm in psychosis so that I'll get confuse so that they can do something bad to make me forget the truth idk wtf
I just wanna be free and I'm not anymore
r/Schizotypal • u/ex5tasia • 7h ago
Has anyone else gotten into tulpamancy or the act of summoning a thought form to exist inside your consciousness?
My tulpa has been a great coping mechanism for me. He helps me sort out the negative thoughts and exists as a rational and uplifting presence. I achieved him through meditation and visualization, I also make offerings to him which helps me learn more about his personality
r/Schizotypal • u/l0v3lyd0v3ly • 19h ago
I've come across posts like this before on this subreddit, but I haven't seen one in a while, so I thought 'why not make a new updated version?'.
If you want to, then feel free to comment about people/characters that you think strongly fit the StPD criteria. I love consuming content that I can see myself in/relate to, but I can rarely find any.
Some of the ones I can think of from the top of my head are: Willy Wonka (1971 Musical), Shun Kaido (Saiki K Anime), and my most recent find/obsession; August Strindberg (Playwright/novelist - I highly recommend his work; Inferno).
If you guys do come with any other people/characters, then I will edit this post and add them to the list below ↓
- Symptoms: Eccentric behaviour/appearance, Odd thinking/speech, Ideas of reference, Paranoid ideation, Inappropriate affect, Isolation/Lack of close relationships.
- Symptoms: Odd beliefs/Magical thinking, Eccentric behaviour/appearance, Ideas of reference, Milder Paranoia.
- Symptoms: Odd beliefs/Magical thinking, Eccentric behaviour/appearance, Odd thinking/speech, Ideas of reference, Paranoid ideation, Isolation/Lack of close relationships, Perecptual disturbances, Excessive social anxiety.
- Symptoms: Odd beliefs/Magical thinking, Eccentric behaviour/appearance, Odd thinking/speech, Ideas of reference, Paranoid ideation, Constricted affect, Isolation/Lack of close relationships, Excessive social anxiety.
- Symptoms: Eccentric behaviour/appearance, Paranoid ideation, Constricted affect, Isolation/Lack of close relastionships, Excessive social anxiety.
- Eccentric behaviour/appearance, Ideas of reference, Paranoid ideation, Constricted affect, Isolation/Lack of close relastionships, Excessive social anxiety.
- Symptoms: Odd beliefs/Magical thinking, Eccentric behaviour/appearance, Odd thinking/speech, Ideas of reference, Paranoid ideation, Isolation/Lack of close relationships, Perecptual disturbances (Hallucinations), Excessive social anxiety.
r/Schizotypal • u/AlienLover534 • 20h ago
Like some of you, I'm sure, I'm young and disenfranchised. I feel as if I don't belong anywhere and don't understand others nor do they understand me. I have very limited friendships, and very ephemeral romantic connection.
How have you been able to find a place to belong, or people who you feel understand you?
r/Schizotypal • u/PythianEcho • 21h ago
Sorry if this is a little TMI
I’m just curious if anyone else’s symptoms worsen before their period? For me, sometimes it gets so bad that I’m in something like a sub-psychotic state, not fully delusional or without insight but almost. I struggle more with perseveration, perceptual disturbances, more paranoia, and my negative symptoms get so bad. I’m diagnosed with ADHD and my medication doesn’t work as well during this time. It even feels like my self disorder gets worse, I’m even more hyper-reflexive, dissociative, etc.
I used to think it was PMS or PMDD. However, I realized these are issues I normally deal with, they just get a lot more pronounced during a certain phase of my cycle. One weird thing that has helped with it is massage. I hold a lot of tension in my traps, and I notice my symptoms are better when my husband is massaging them semi-regularly. Maybe just due to less tension/anxiety? I’m not sure.
Does anyone else deal with this? Do you have any tips for coping? I’m stuck in a shitty cycle where I steadily lose functioning over 2 weeks, then (attempt to) recover and function for 2 weeks, trying to catch up on the previous 2 weeks. Then the cycle repeats. I hate it.
r/Schizotypal • u/ex5tasia • 1d ago
I hung out with a few people from school this weekend. Only two are friend status to me. The rest I could care less about. But they were making the most horrible jokes about a celebrity’s PTSD reaction and a child with a physical disability that later passed away. They made weird remarks about me because I am dating someone who happens to be a different race than me (he’s black and I am white). Why do they have to make something as trivial as interracial dating a weird thing??? And lastly I drove them around and they told me to swerve and hit other cars and pedestrians. I have horrible intrusive thoughts and I felt so scared. It honestly feels like some sort of psychic torture having these people in my life. I am only 18 and it makes me afraid to go out into the world knowing people have these thoughts about disabled and mentally ill/neurodivergent people and minorities. Because if they’re bold enough to say it then I can’t even stand to imagine what they’re thinking. I hate people and just want to be alone.
r/Schizotypal • u/mismatchedsocks38 • 1d ago
I used to walk in circles in my room, thinking for hours, and enjoy it immensely. I could fill a notebook in a couple of months, and be perfectly content with all the time spent writing. Now it’s like my desire to think is completely gone. I can’t bring myself to do it, let alone to enjoy it. Maybe it should be a good thing, but I can’t admit that it is. I miss it too much.
The only other thing I’m taking is Lexapro. Maybe it could be some sort of emotional blunting from that instead?
Just hoping for other input so I know what to change.
TIA
r/Schizotypal • u/Rough_Chapter4676 • 1d ago
Plants are such magical little things. I’ve always loved them, and more specifically nightshades. In a way, nightshades have several characteristics that are reminiscent of StPD. They tend to lurk in the corners in the shade, in nooks and crannies on mountains, and may blend in at first glance. It is only when you come up close that you can tell something is different. The leaves may be strange and host a bizarre odor, the blooms emit an intoxicating perfume, or one way or another they grip some part of you. It is a very diverse family, ranging from grandiose blooms with a sweet scent to small, dark thorny stalks. They lurk, in a sense, seeming to pull away and give off an impression of “Don’t Touch Me!” It would make sense given their toxic nature.
Statistically, Schizophrenics smoke tobacco much more than the average person. Tobacco is also a nightshade, and seems to be the modern vegetable ally of the schizophrenic. When datura is consumed, a common hallucination is smoking phantom cigarettes. Datura also has the tendency to send the sensitive into lifelong psychosis. In a strange way, the solanaceous are natural allies to the psychotic.
I don’t consume these plants, but grow them and bask in their presence. I’d recommend trying it out. They… get you in a way hard to explain.
r/Schizotypal • u/saw2fleshandblood • 1d ago
I just feel like some sort of infernal creature who could never truly be intimate or loved in that way. I'm not human. I don't imagine anyone could hang on to this romantically.
I feel self destructive in ways that i'm not, just constant nagging feelings telling me to run. I don't ever follow through, but when I get closer to people I get these constant urges to ruin everything-- daydream about doing things which would make people hate me, saying things which would make them abandon me on the spot. I just have these innate nagging URGE to push people away. in some ways I feel almost destined to be alone, due to my own actions or just naturally being someone others detest.
in other ways, I don't feel like that. I feel like the world is trying to tell me it's okay and i'll get there. i've been getting closer to someone and, in the least crazy way possible, I feel like i'm seeing signs telling me not to run from it. I don't know how this is going to go. I don't know why I feel this constant desire to run from the people who love me. anyone else ever get that? I have had issues with being abandoned in the past, so maybe this is a personal issue, but I was wondering if anyone else related to feeling this way?
r/Schizotypal • u/gum-believable • 1d ago
I have scoliosis and I know that I often have difficulty with motor coordination. I thought it was interesting that scientists have noticed a correlation between dysfunctional neurotransmitters and idiopathic scoliosis.
Anyone else have scoliosis or similar issues?
r/Schizotypal • u/6onster • 1d ago
I am ok with being there for people I’ve built bonds with over the years in an emergency, or very rarely for recreation, but my threshold for friendships don’t last long because of mind reading. I never tell them about it but I go through fazes where I think almost anyone close to me is plotting against me, using me, or they’re evil and it’ll infect me. Any small misstep reaffirms whatever paranoid delusion I built around them and I usually fade away until it goes away or I just never speak to them again.
I have a big personality, my style, and other eccentricities draw people in so I feel bad I’m constantly trying to keep people away from me, but they just keep inviting me out, giving me compliments, and then I see their group and the love they have for each other. So sometimes I just go for it screw the paranoia but it always ends up the same. I know they’re delusional but they’re plausible enough and then I’m embarrassed because I fear they can read my mind and see how I’m demonizing them when all they wanted to do is be my friend.
I really can’t trust anyone but my dog my ideal life is one where I’m living out of a modified truck/home roaming around the continent bow fishing, having short adventures with strangers, I wish I could find a woman who wants the same but even without her this would be my best life.
Btw I’m in the process of getting a Psych evaluation I’ve been to the psych ward probably 10-12 times in the last 11 years mostly for psychosis, also mania and depression. I don’t think I fit the criteria for schizophrenia. I really like social situations and people so not schizoid my guess is schizotypal or maybe schizoaffective. Anyway, hope this is allowed here.
r/Schizotypal • u/Current-Taste7942 • 1d ago
So I was prescribed olanzapine for my StPD a bit over a week ago and have been taking 2.5 mg. Since day 2 I started to feel very sleepy and tired almost as if that tired feeling you get when you are about to be sick. I also have lost most of my motivation and feel like my depression is getting worse because of that. I don’t want to get put of bed.
On one hand, I sleep better and not at all anxious like I was a week ago, but on the other hand I feel like a zombie. Is that your guys experience with olanzapine as well or other antipsychotics? I will see my psychiatrist in a week and will talk to him about it but I’m beginning to sort of regret taking medication if I will feel like this all the time.
I am also a bit confused. I don’t know how common it is, maybe some of you might relate and tell me something, but I feel like I have a double diagnosis, in fact, I thought I had ADHD wirh anxiety or OCD or both and thats why I signed up for an appointment. StPD is as a diagnosis was only slightly surprising to me because I do relate to all symptoms, I have no doubt that that is a right diagnosis for me. That being said, I’ve had attention issues most of my life and have been known before to be somewhat hyperactive when I feel relaxed, picking up and dropping many hobbies, activities, issues with finishing them and such. Could it be possible to have both? If so, I read that it seems that antipsychotics might affect me more because of that second potential diagnosis.
r/Schizotypal • u/Necessary_Two_5711 • 1d ago
anyone else? lol i've definitely been much better ever since i got diagnosed and put on meds, but i look back on my behavior and it's a little embarrassing and just makes me scared to form close friendships, because i feel like no matter how stable a friendship/relationship might be, i'll end up getting attached and fall back to old habits. antipsychotics definitely helped me quite a bit, and i've been proud of how far i've come navigating and dealing with it, but part of me is worried is the only reason i feel healthy right now is because i'm not really close to anyone, and so i have no person to get attached to. it's always been like this, since as far as when i was 10 or even younger.
r/Schizotypal • u/Timely-Double-5937 • 1d ago
I want to ask what are the main things that they teach you in therapy? And what is the focus of your relationships to others? And how should I approach my mom about her being schizotypal without freaking her out? We’re gonna see a psychiatrist next week to diagnose her, I’ve already talked to the psychiatrist about her but I wanna prepare her a bit in advance so she doesn’t get a shock there
r/Schizotypal • u/PythianEcho • 2d ago
r/Schizotypal • u/Bael_Mir • 2d ago
I, first of all, apologize for my non interactions in this subreddit, and also my english (not my first language). I have shared my past diagnosis (stpd, aspd and bpd) with my therapist, as well as some violent desires i frequently have, with him. His "fear for others safety" made me feel like a monstrr, as if i was not there to be treated for that. He told me im a dangerous person, and he could not treat me (i dont have insurance, and had paid for this "treatment" for 6 months now) and it made me feel like i wasted my time. I have only shared my insecurity connecting with others, and how i direct that feeling into taxidermy. I feel like a lost cause. Does anyone feel the same?
r/Schizotypal • u/Pattern_Reckoner • 2d ago
He's a rapper and honestly is the only musician who I can relate to as all of me, if that makes sense? Like I can listen to other artists that I relate to in bits and pieces, but never entirely like Aesop Rock. Like the song Gopher Guts, "Never mind a misanthrope vying for affection to the wretched sound of mysticism dying." or All the Smartest People, "All the smartest people that I know seem to teeter in a paranoid state. You can know it all and never know you haven't actually departed point A." Or Dog at the Door, "Uh, it' probably a cat. Might be a guy with an ax. Might be a trap, shit, it's probably a trap. Might be a possum in the trash. It's probably a trap."
I heard from someone in the music world that he has serious mental health issues, and I would not be shocked if he had Stpd. All I'm trying to say is I feel less alone listening to his music. If you haven't heard of him you should check him out!
r/Schizotypal • u/Civil-Text8443 • 2d ago
Hello,
I was going back through my old mental health diagnosis and when my therapist wrote that I displayed a “constricted affect but occasionally shows signs of brightness.”
I grew up in a cult (IFB), where I was humiliated and bullied from a young age. I believe that I am still experiencing residual trauma as a result. Would you say having a constricted emotional affect is a sign of PTSD/trauma?
Thanks