Schizotypal personality disorder than differs from schizophrenia. Causes, symptoms and treatments for schizotypal disorder. How to determine if I have this disorder

Hello, Dear Readers. Today’s article will focus on distinctive signs of schizotypic disorder (F21 according to ICD-10) from other borderline (between the psychic norm and psychotic pathology) conditions (neurosis and psychopathy).

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If you want to understand if you (or someone close to you) are ill with any form of schizophrenia, then before you spend a lot of time reading all 20 articles in this section, I highly recommend you (to save your energy and time) to watch (and preferably to the end) my video on the topic: “Why will there be NO more psychiatric material on my YouTube channels and website? How to learn to conduct a high-quality diagnosis of mental illness? ”

The main material of the article was taken from the book “Frontier Psychiatry”, MD, professor of ONU, Department of Clinical Psychology, Valery Fedorovich Prostomolotov. I give him the floor:
“In the total mass of patients with neurotic disorders and other borderline conditions, patients with sluggish schizophrenia (schizotypal disorder, according to ICD-10) are distinguished not only by poor compliance with biological and psychiatric therapy, but by a mixture of positive symptoms,“ a mess of symptoms ”(at the same time there are hysterical, obsessive compulsive and psychasthenic, as well as depersonalization phenomena, which is not typical for personality disorders) (for example, in a psychasthenic psychopath with a pathological It does NOT have the jealous-suspicious character of hysterical features, nor does the hysterical psychopath - psychasthenic, although she certainly MAY PLAY, PICTURE FOR SOME TIME features of alarming suspiciousness and indecision; Yu.L.) and negative (Asthenia, Apathy, Autism, Falling Energy Potential, Disorders of Thinking (by type of sliding, resonance, ornate, sperrung). (More on these and others impaired thinking I will write in the corresponding article; Yu.L.).
The clinical picture of sluggish schizophrenia in many cases is dominated by psychopathic manifestations, very reminiscent of a schizoid personality anomaly, but more pronounced: difficulties in contact with people, autism, cold and gross selfishness, often emotional inadequacy and paradoxical behavior. (You can read more about schizoid psychopathy by clicking on the link; Yu.L.). The greatest sharpening of abnormal features occur in the second half of life, acquiring the character of Persistent Negative Changes. At the same time, one symptom may predominate, and the patient externally resembles, often caricatured, hysterical, psychasthenic, paranoid personality, or a patient with organic brain damage.
Patients are either pathologically closed, or pathologically, regressively open, the so-called autism inside out. In all guise, including the clothes, hairstyle, and behavior of patients are striking, on the one hand, unusual, pretentious, eccentric, and on the other - neglect, neglect of the rules of personal hygiene. The gait can be stilted, inappropriately excessive use of cosmetics and fashionable clothes, often not appropriate for age, place and time - the type of verschrobene (translated from German - eccentric, strange, eccentric), a critical assessment of their condition is absent.

In speech, along with stamped expressions, a tendency to use neologisms is noted (invention of new words and phrases by patients, which are given special (often understandable only to one patient) meaning). During the examination, a violation of thinking is revealed by the type of sliding, resonance, supervalued formations, as well as sperrings. With all this, patients are often messy and neglected, and their housing is cluttered with old unnecessary things - “Plyushkins”. (Indeed, Plyushkin from Gogol’s poem Dead Souls had everything signs of schizotypal disorder - was sick with a neurosis-like sluggish schizophrenia; Yu.L.). Often patients do not work for a long time and live on dependent relatives.
In other cases, patients give the impression of expansive (inconsistent in the manifestation of their feelings), hyperthymic (characterized by increased mood, accelerated uncritical thinking and violent activity) personalities and SAME TIME - Rational, Pedantic, reputed among the people around them because of their Coldness, Remoteness , Alienations by eccentrics, "Living Computers". Patients need IPA psychiatrist supervision and social protection. ”

Dear Readers, and now I will briefly tell you WHAT DISORDERS ARE SIMULATED by sluggish schizophrenia (By What Distinctive Signs it is possible to understand that a person is sick with Schizotypal Disorder):
1) Hysteriform disorders (hysteria). - By the type of hysterical neurosis or hysterical psychopathy. Those. there is a Hysterical FASAD, however there is Apathy, Weakness, Emotional Poverty, Sloppy, Tidy, Hypomimicity and other Negative Symptoms. In more detail about this form of sluggish schizophrenia I wrote in the article "".

2) Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders. Manifested in various kinds of obsessions (phobias, fears). With sluggish schizophrenia, they take on the form of crude caricature. - For example, at the beginning the man was decisive, and then, from 18-30 years, FOR NONE, FOR ANYTHING, STARTED TO FEAR EVERYTHING - he became ALWAYS-MINDING (in case of a neurosis, THERE NEVER happen). - Here PROCESSUAL SYMPTOMATICS IS ALREADY Visible (i.e., a process that gradually, stage by stage, step by step, partially or completely, CHANGES THE PERSONALITY AND THE PSYCHE OF THE MAN; I will write more about what the process is in the article “ Psychiatric diagnosis"). As a rule, here are also observed:
BUT) Ambivalence is a dual relation to something, especially a dual experience of emotions and feelings, expressed in the fact that the One Object evokes SIMULTANEOUS TWO OPPOSITE feelings, for example, a mother with schizophrenia simultaneously loves and hates her; or the puppy loves, plays with him, and after a minute his stomach rips open to see What this puppy has Inside.
B) Ambitence is the ambivalence of action. For example, typical for patients with schizophrenia, Trampling, Jamming in the Doorway - he wants to SIMULTANEOUSLY and Get Out of the Door, and Log In Reverse - as a result - treads place.
IN) Stereotypies. Stereotypical actions, SIMILAR to Neurotic Compulsions or Rituals, but, Unlike Neurotic (for example, wash your hands 3 times before meals so as not to become infected; cross yourself before you go to pass the exam; put a textbook under your pillow to better pass the subject, etc. e.), they are completely out of place and ridiculous, and criticism regarding them from the patient is absent. For example, in order to pass an exam, a patient with sluggish schizophrenia specially steps on certain, especially for him, cracks in the asphalt. - Agree, Dear Readers, that this ritual is NOT in any way will not contribute to passing the exam. “Because of his USELESS, he looks DIGGLED AND STRANGE.
D) Sperrungs (sudden breakdown of thoughts), Vague Thinking, Slipping in a conversation from topic to topic (due to the impossibility of maintaining the concentration of attention that arose due to a defect in the volitional sphere), Resonance.

3) Depersonalization. A person feels a change in himself (emotions, feelings, body), the world, the people around him, feels that he does not have a taste for life - everything is done by him exclusively from the mind, without emotions, and the lack of something is very difficult to tolerate. Valery Fedorovich Prostomolotov believes that patients with such symptoms, as a rule, are shameless - "no shame, no conscience." - On this subject I recall a vivid example from my childhood. One summer, in broad daylight, we, a group of boys from 8 to 13 years old, played a ball on the boulevard. An extremely strange “granny” passed by us (as I recall now, a woman of about 50), who looked and was dressed more than Defiant, Strange and Absurd. Older boys began to tease her and laugh at her: "Garden scarecrow!" “Granny” cursed dirty at them, and then, completely unexpectedly, not for nothing, not for nothing, she took off her underwear and, turning back to one of the boys, in front of the whole group of amazed guys, bent down and showed him her bare ass . This incident has long struck me in my memory.
You can read more about this by clicking on the link.

4) Poor symptoms. It proceeds as asthenia. Already in the morning, such a patient does NOT WANT ANYTHING, ALL DAY THEY MAY SIMPLY LAY ON THE SOFA, staring at the ceiling. This form, according to the observations of Valery Fedorovich Prostomolotov, is limited to persistent asthenia and emotional deficiency and, unlike the nuclear form of schizophrenia, does NOT lead to apathetic-abulic syndrome. The latter is observed, as a rule, in the nuclear form of schizophrenia and organic damage to the brain as a manifestation of a defect in the emotional-volitional sphere. - Patients become lethargic and inactive, indifferent to everything that happens, passive. Unlike patients with organic brain damage, patients with sluggish, symptom-poor, schizophrenia, have no dysphoria (gloomy, dreary-anxious-angry mood with a tendency to emotional explosions for ANY Reason) - there is only growing fatigue and apathy.

Distinctive sign of schizotypic disorder from the manifest, nuclear forms of schizophrenia is the absence of (paroxysmal) psychotic course, altered dream states of consciousness (observed when onyroid form of schizophrenia (oneyros - in Greek - a dream), the defect from the negative symptoms is much less severe, there is no fragmentation of thinking (when it becomes a verbal okroshka - the sentences are incoherent and consist of a set of words, for example: “I have to raise a donkey because the river is green in the fog. "
The diagnosis is made only in the case of a defect - eccentricity (fershroben), asthenia, apathy.
From psychopharmacotherapy, antipsychotics and antidepressants are prescribed.
Psychotherapy must be carried out according to the type of rehabilitation. Occupational therapy also has a beneficial effect on patients. In some cases, psychotherapy is possible on the type of wintering, hardening.

31 comments: Signs of Schizotypal Disorder

A personality is a combination of the characterological properties of a person that are innate and acquired throughout life. This is a whole system that, in different circumstances, acts and responds to external and internal stimuli in a very peculiar way. The traditional, rather even philistine, division of people into “normal” and “abnormal” in psychiatry and psychology is simply impossible.

The line where "normality" ends and "abnormality" begins is still unclear to psychologists or psychiatrists. Therefore, when talking about personality disorders, a large number of factors and signs are taken into account, and not just symptoms. The prognosis is different, depending on the specifics and dynamics of the disorder. Treatment should be comprehensive.

There are people who, by their appearance, behavior, are clearly different from other people. When there is a sharp exacerbation of some characterological features, for example, emotionality, or vice versa, coldness, sociability, or isolation. Moreover, these qualities accompany a person all his life. When their quantitative value goes beyond reasonable limits, we have to talk about personality disorders.

Such personalities (with sharply defined, hypertrophied characterological properties) are poorly adapted to the surrounding reality. They are more susceptible to stressful effects, extremely inflexible in emotional terms. Hypertrophied character traits, both positive and negative, make a person extremely uncomfortable for communication. Its socialization is difficult. Moreover, these signs characterize both schizoid and schizotypal personality disorders, but with schizotypal socialization is more difficult, and distortions of mental operations, their originality are deeper. With schizoid disorder, people do not need company, they are more closed, they are quite comfortable from this.

Schizotypal personality disorder is sometimes seen as a transitional stage between mental health and illness (schizophrenia). But following ICD 10, this disorder excludes the essential characteristics of schizophrenia, in which the very core of the personality is affected, when there was an irrevocable breakdown of the personality, its transition to “other being,” a root violation of the perception of oneself and the world.

There are external, similar to the manifestations of schizophrenia, signs:

Slowed or excessively fast pace of speech, elaborate manner of expression. Acts are sometimes very inadequate to the surrounding circumstances.
People become very suspicious.
The emergence of "otherworldly" thoughts, it seems to people that others can hear their thoughts or that they hear thoughts.
The clearly expressed negativity of the perception of the world around them - it seems to them that they were all betrayed, and only enemies around. Because of this, they destroy relations with others, relatives.
Illusions of the presence of other people (often dead).
Emotional flatness, impoverishment of emotional manifestations (do not respond with their emotions to the emotional manifestations of other people, for example, smiles).
Outbreaks of unmotivated (incomprehensible to other people) aggression

Actually, all these manifestations are also characteristic of schizophrenia, but with schizotypal personality disorder there is no complete immersion in "other being", and treatment is more effective. Although a person is in conditions of obvious social maladjustment, his personality has not yet crossed the line from which there is no return to the outside world. In other words, the symptoms are not so acute.

But at the same time, such symptomatology was characteristic of sluggish schizophrenia, which was described in ICD 9 (international classification of diseases 9 revision) in a similar way, which is not treated in the traditional sense of the word. Now this term is not in ICD 10. There is no consensus among experts on this issue. But this disorder is chronic, it is a recognized fact. There is no person who would be completely cured of this disorder.

Emotions and feelings of people with schizotypal disorder

People with this disorder avoid social contact. They seem emotionally cold, alienated. Most likely, they do this not because they really do not need them, but because they have a very high level of anxiety against the background of the disease. A vicious circle arises - in patients the level of anxiety grows, developing into prolonged stress, others begin to avoid them, in patients the level of fear reaches pathological values, further provoking social exclusion, more and more care in the world of pathological fantasies, exacerbating the symptoms of the disorder.

It seems that they lose their emotional attachment to loved ones. They become as if indifferent to current events. If a healthy person sees the external cause in the origin of negative emotion, then the patient ascribes it to himself, believing that he is responsible for external phenomena, thoughts become concrete, sometimes thesis. Examples of specific automatic thoughts:

I know that he is following me.
They are just waiting for me to leave.
She is the devil.
Something bad will happen today, I feel it.
I won’t talk to her, she’s just waiting to rob me, I feel it.
I hear his thoughts, he is an evil person.

Often people with schizotypic disorder think that they have supernatural abilities - psychic, telepathic, can predict the future.

Their behavior is very eccentric. They have different inclinations, they spend a lot of time on strange things - for example, arranging books on shelves in alphabetical order, putting things in order in the closet according to the only principle they understand, spending a lot of time on this, showing amazing scrupulousness and thoroughness.

Causes of schizotypal personality disorder

There is no unequivocal and universally accepted evidence of the causes of this disorder. Some experts associate the causes with heredity, drawing at the same time a parallel with schizophrenia in this regard. That is, if the ancestors of the first stage were diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizotypic disorder, then the probability of the occurrence of these disorders among heirs increases. The more patients in the family, the higher the likelihood of getting sick from the heirs. E. Kraepelin, K. Schneider, I. Koch considered personality disorders as an inborn disharmony of the psyche.

There is also a theory that exogenous and psychogenic factors influence the occurrence of schizotypic disorder. That is, various causes can contribute - hormonal adjustment (disruption of adjustment), divorce of parents, or other sharply stressful situation. But these factors can contributebut not the cause. In 1936, I. Schulz said that psychopathy is an environment-formed personality disorder. No accurate evidence has been obtained. Perhaps there is such a possibility. But since no doctor has yet been able to trace the moment of the transition from a healthy to a pathological state, finding out the reason for the transition, even despite the obvious symptoms, all this remains at the level of empirical judgment. Since the external environment can contribute to the formation of certain forms of behavior, but not a character trait.

It is unlikely that an emotionally cold person will cry even after repeated viewing of sentimental films. If a person is burdened by the company of large companies, then he will not become the soul of the company, even if he starts going to these parties every day. In any case, even if it does, it will still experience internal discomfort. As B.V. wrote Voronkov “Under the influence of circumstances, views may change, but the vector of changes usually tends to harmony with one’s own nature, which in itself remains unchanged.”

Diagnosis of schizotypal disorder

Diagnosis of mental illnesses, disorders in itself is often a serious difficulty. Schizotypal personality disorder is no exception. The basis for recognition psychopathies (personality disorders)you can take the statements of K. Schneider that the psychopath "prevents others from living" and "he suffers from his own character." If we talk about which personality can be considered pathological, unhealthy or normal, then again, there are no clear criteria, the symptoms can be different, as well as their assessment for isolation in the syndrome. Except when it comes to overt pathology. Everything will depend on the context of the particular disease or disorder. Which are treated differently.

In any case, when diagnosed by psychiatrists, complex methods are used. But among the main ones, it is possible to single out, first of all, a conversation with a patient, observation of behavior and a careful collection of anamnesis. Only in person can you at least try to understand the specifics of a particular case. Since the general criteria are not always justified and relevant in the diagnosis. A very important role is played by the professionalism of the psychiatrist, his attentiveness, inclusion, sincere willingness to work with the patient.

Treatment of schizotypal disorder, prognosis

The main treatment strategy should be to improve the patient's social relations. Since he needs them, but because of his heightened anxiety avoids them, he behaves strangely. This is also important because a schizotypic patient, because of isolation from people, risks diving into a world of fantasies and losing touch with reality. He is not able to critically evaluate his actions, going “on the occasion” of his emotional reactions.

Psychotherapy can help to more adequately evaluate your thoughts, rationalize and analyze them, "smooth out" the symptoms. For example, even if it seems to the patient that he is an outcast and no one can communicate with him, then in group psychotherapy he has a real chance to test this idea in practice. With psychotherapy, there is a chance to “lose” various life situations, and then learn and evaluate their actions, statements.

And not just react emotionally to the environment. Since it is extremely harmful and unproductive. In the struggle against strange thoughts, such as “I am a stranger in this world”, an assessment of this thought also helps. Or, if the patient is seriously convinced that he is able to predict the future, the therapist is taught to test these hypotheses in practice. That is, again, rationally evaluate your thoughts, not allowing yourself to plunge into your emotions.

Naturally, one cannot expect a complete cure, but patients can learn to be more flexible, without bringing themselves and those around them with their strangeness, it is possible to improve the prognosis of the course of the disorder. They can learn to more adequately evaluate their actions. Do not focus on your purely emotional reactions and do not act according to them only.

Sometimes due to personality disorders, patients can’t get a job, don’t clean their home or even do hygienic procedures, sometimes they show complete disability. Then psychotherapeutic intervention is simply vital. And is a good way to learn social and self-service skills. Drug therapy and treatment are selected purely individually. Disability due to such a disorder is not established. But patients should be constantly monitored and monitored by doctors.

Schizotypal personality disorder - This is a mental state characterized by anomalies of thinking and perception against the background of eccentric behavior that begin in early childhood. Such people are characterized by communication problems, suspicion, a tendency to strange beliefs and superstitions. All this interferes with a person's normal life and, without timely psychiatric help, leads to social isolation, various addictions, or joining sects and cults.

Factors contributing to the development of a schizotypic personality:

Hereditary predisposition - mental disorders in close relatives (especially the presence of schizophrenia).
Psychological trauma, stress, unhealthy situation in the family.
Biochemical features - High activity of the dopamine neurotransmitter is characteristic.

ICD-10 considers schizotypal personality disorder as a disease that is difficult to distinguish from some other mental disorders. The disease resembles schizophrenia, but does not meet its diagnostic criteria. This condition does not have symptoms typical of schizophrenia and is not characterized by profound personality defects.

Help for patients with schizotypal personality disorder is provided by a psychiatrist and psychotherapist.

Schizoid and schizotypal personality disorders also have similar features, but at the first, eccentric behavior and strange thinking are not so pronounced. In this regard, the diagnosis of schizotypic disorder is a complex task, the solution of which requires an experienced specialist with high qualifications.

How to recognize schizotypal personality disorder?

Patients with a schizotypal personality disorder have a tendency to social exclusion, which is also characteristic of people with schizoid disorder. But unlike schizoids, schizotypal personalities have pronounced cognitive (associated with thinking) and perceptual (associated with perception) disorders.

From the side, the behavior of such people looks eccentric and inadequate. Strange beliefs and mystical thinking are observed: patients find the clairvoyance or telepathy abilities in themselves or someone from the environment, superstitions, symbols, omens become very important for them. In this case, emotions in relation to loved ones become flattened, limited. There is a coldness in communication, avoidance of contacts with other people.

It is often difficult for the patient and others to distinguish features of the person’s character, symptoms of fatigue or overstrain from the manifestations of the disease. To avoid exacerbations, you need to regularly visit the attending psychiatrist.

A person ceases to follow social norms: neglects personal hygiene, dresses eccentrically, a tendency to vagrancy may appear. The speech becomes incoherent, blurred, with many unnecessary details, it becomes difficult to perceive. All this can be the cause of ridicule, which leads to an even greater aggravation of anxiety, fencing and suspiciousness.

However, unlike schizophrenic personality disorder, the condition in question is not characterized by complete delirium and hallucinations. Patients may have traits that occur in schizophrenia, have strange beliefs, and behave disregarding social norms. But at the same time, they are not characterized by isolation from reality. There are distortions of perception and thinking when a person thinks that he sees a shadow hiding in a corner or hears someone pronouncing his name. However, he soon realizes that this is not true. .

A person who suffers from schizotypal personality disorder is recommended to begin treatment with a specialist as soon as possible: without the necessary help, the disease will progress, worsen, prevent normal life and engage in professional activities.

Therapy and course of schizotypal disorder

The treatment uses modern antipsychotics, tranquilizers and antidepressants. These drugs control symptoms and correct mood. .

The best result can be achieved with a combination of medication with psychotherapy, which helps to understand your condition, find motivation for recovery, teaches you to protect yourself from negative emotions and manage the situation.

Adequate and timely treatment by a psychiatrist, the implementation of all the doctor’s recommendations allows you to avoid the transition of the disease into advanced schizophrenia.

Sometimes with schizotypal personality disorder, schizophrenia can be the expected outcome. This occurs in the absence of treatment due to ignoring manifestations that at first may not be as bright as with other mental illnesses. To avoid this and improve the prognosis, attention must be paid to the close environment and providing the patient with timely psychiatric care.

The disease has a chronic course with fluctuations in intensity. The forecast is individual for each case. With the competent approach of an experienced specialist, the condition stabilizes, patients socialize and return to study or professional activity.

A person who stands out among its members for eccentric, strange behavior, a special way of thinking, usually does not go unnoticed by society. In some cases, many notice the bizarre nature of a person whose manifestations are within the normal range. The crazy ideas of others, combined with inadequate reactions and too peculiar oddities, suggest the presence of serious mental deviations. The borderline mental state of a person between norm and pathology is called schizotypal disorder.

In the medical classification of diseases, schizotypic disorder has the code F21 and belongs to the group. This neighborhood is not accidental, because some forms of schizophrenia and borderline personality disorders are very similar in their manifestations. In practice, it can be difficult to distinguish between them.

Schizotypal disorder concept

To clearly understand the nature of schizotypic disorder, one should turn to the history of this diagnosis. Prior to its inclusion in the classifier of medical diseases under the real name, the concept of latent schizophrenia was used in psychiatry. Its symptoms were described by a well-known specialist in this area, the Swiss psychiatrist Eugen (Eigen) Bleiler at the beginning of the last century.

In patients who were diagnosed with latent schizophrenia, the symptoms of the disease were observed in a mild form, without an increase in dementia. Over the next years in the history of diagnosis, the concept of a painful condition has changed. It was called mild, nonpsychotic schizophrenia, then pseudo-neurotic, then lethargic, and, finally, prodromal, low-grade schizophrenia.

The evolution in the terminology of the disorder continued until 1980, when American psychiatrists did not designate it with the term schizotypal personality disorder and introduced it into the medical classification. It should be noted that experts in the field of psychiatry of Western medicine do not consider it a full-fledged mental illness, but consider it as a pathology of character.

In the countries of the former USSR, the concept of sluggish was used. Currently, domestic psychiatrists have not refused such an understanding of this disease, but the name from ICD-10 under the code F21 schizotypal disorder is officially used.

The main signs and symptoms

External manifestations of a schizotypic mental disorder in a person’s behavior, thinking, and affective sphere go beyond the normal range and at the same time do not reach the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Symptoms characteristic of schizophrenia appear in an implicit, erased form. What signs indicate that a person suffers from schizotypal disorder?

The most common symptoms are:

short-term or;
obsession, not pronounced;
paranoid ideas, but not obvious nonsense;
suspicion;
abnormal restraint in emotions;
desire for loneliness, isolation from other members of society;
strange speeches, thoughts, behavior.

People with this pathology are perceived by others as cold, unemotional personalities. Patients often have a detached appearance, avoid interpersonal contacts, choosing the position of a hermit. Deviations in thinking and beliefs are manifested in eccentric appearance and behavior.

Patients are often overcome by obsessive thoughts, and there is aggressiveness in reasoning. There are cases of cognitive impairment by type, bodily. It should be noted that, unlike schizophrenia in this schizotypic personality disorder, although thinking is impaired, its pronounced splitting is not observed.

Violation of thinking is expressed:

the pretentiousness of the presentation of thoughts;
in the use of various metaphors;
in the tendency to overly detailed ideas.

The spontaneous appearance of delusional ideas, auditory hallucinations, and illusions is characteristic.

How does the disease manifest and proceed

Schizotypal disorder manifests itself as a slow increase in personality oddities. At first - this is a teenager with extraordinary behavior, great fantasies and secrecy. Then it turns into an inadequate, closed, suspicious subject with many strange habits. Often such people become sociophobic, this contributes to the difficulties experienced in interpersonal communication. After a long-term chronic mental disorder, a personality defect may occur. Disability and schizophrenia rarely become the endpoint of a disease.

In medical science there are several options for the development of the disease. All of them are highlighted in the classifier of diseases with the assignment to each of its own code. So, if a personality disorder is dominated by a deviation from normal behavior, due to which a person cannot adapt in society, this is a disease with the code F8.

Negative symptoms associated with a depletion of the emotional sphere, lack of hobbies, manifestation of signs of autism characterize a passive, lethargic, lack of initiative person. Patients are often recognized as disabled, can not live on their own. This variant of schizophrenia is indicated by the F5 code.

The schizotypic form of personality disorder belongs to the category of chronic diseases of the schizophrenic type. This pathology has a slow development and is manifested in the form of psychopathy, hypochondria, neurotic and affective disorders, as well as mild symptoms of paranoia. This disease is often referred to as a latent or sluggish form of schizophrenia. The first symptoms of the disease appear in adolescence, however, they may not be noticeable to others. According to statistics, this form of personality disorder has a high degree of prevalence among the stronger sex. Schizoid and schizotypal personality disorder is the topic of this article, which will consider all aspects related to these pathologies.

Schizotypic disorder is a chronic, slowly developing disease of the schizophrenic spectrum.

The main cause of schizotypic disorder is heredity. According to scientists, the pathology under consideration, like schizophrenia, is included in the category of endogenous diseases that are transmitted through genes. During the diagnostic examination, it is often revealed that one or more direct relatives of the patient had schizophrenia or affective disorders. Identification of this fact allows you to start treatment much faster and find the right therapy strategy.

During diagnostic measures, the doctor’s task is to identify specific signs of schizotypal personality disorder. These signs include:

Oddities in the appearance of the patient and his behavioral model. Quite often, such diseases manifest themselves in the form of excessive egocentrism.
The presence of paranoid thoughts and a tendency to suspicion.
Emotional coldness, inappropriate reactions and pronounced alienation.
Problems with creating communicative connections and the desire for social isolation.
Often the patient’s medical history contains information about a change in the model of thinking.

A person begins to adhere to strange outlooks on life, which run counter to the norms accepted in society. Many of the patients explain the various events taking place in their lives by otherworldly interference of magical forces. According to statistics, most patients with schizotypic disorder suffer from perceptual abnormalities. They are expressed in the form of symptoms of depersonalization and bodily illusions. Obsessions are also integral companions of pathology.

In certain cases, hallucinatory attacks are observed in patients, it is important to note that, as a rule, there are no significant reasons for their occurrence.

To make a diagnosis, it is enough to identify only a few signs of the disorder from those listed above. It is important to note that these symptoms should be observed for at least several years. An important step in the implementation of diagnostic measures is the elimination of schizophrenia.

the main manifestations of the disorder are neurotic, hypochondriacal, psychopathic, affective and unexpressed paranoid symptoms

Differences between schizophrenia and schizotypal disorder

Why did the disease, formerly known as sluggish schizophrenia, get its own name and a separate group? The answer to this question is quite simple. The disorder in question involves mild personality changes that do not imply complete emotional devastation. The disease has a slow rate of development and a relatively favorable scenario. This means that the patient retains the previous degree of social adaptation and does not change his lifestyle. He does not need constant supervision and medical monitoring, as is the case with schizophrenia.

It is important to note that when the disorder in question arises, persistent delusional thoughts are practically absent. Unlike schizophrenia, hallucinatory attacks in schizotypal disorder have a weaker severity and do not disturb mental processes.

The difference between psychopathy and schizotypal disorder

Schizotypal personality disorder has several similarities with psychopathy.th. For people suffering from both forms of the disease, egocentric behavior, emotional lability and eccentricity are characteristic. In some cases, patients show signs of autism, difficulties in building communicative connections, and paradoxical behavior patterns.

The schizoid form of psychopathy is easily diagnosed both in childhood and in more mature age. In contrast, it is almost impossible to detect signs of schizotypic disorder in children. Due to the delayed development, the first clearly expressed signs of pathology appear only a few years after the onset of the disease. It is important to note that in adolescence, the differential diagnosis of these diseases causes significant difficulties. However, after several years, determining the correct diagnosis becomes easier, thanks to the specific symptoms of schizotypal disorder.

Features of the course

The question of whether schizotypal disorder can be cured is highly relevant. The positiveness of the prognosis depends on the characteristics of the course of the disease. There are three main forms of the course of the disease:

Latent period - characterized by the appearance of the first symptoms of pathology, which do not have specific features.
Active form - An acute period in the development of the disease, characterized by the maximum severity of the clinical picture.
Stabilization - for this form of flow is characterized by a gradual decrease in the frequency of occurrences of hallucinatory attacks and delusions. At this moment, changes in the personality spectrum become vivid.

Synonyms of schizotypic disorder - sluggish schizophrenia, latent schizophrenia, low-grade schizophrenia

Latent form

With a hidden course of the disease, signs of a decrease in the level of intelligence and social interaction, as a rule, are absent. In addition, many patients demonstrate a pronounced desire for various forms of self-realization. The first signs of the disease appear in the form of symptoms of a schizoid circle. They consist in the paradox of the behavioral model, mild autism, as well as difficulties in building communicative connections.

Many patients have hysterical realities that make their behavior more demonstrative. Pedantry, anxiety and indecision are specific symptoms of the latent period. Quite often, patients become overly suspicious and give their persona excessive importance.

Affective period

This period is accompanied by hypomanic states in combination with somatized and neurotic depressive disorders. The appearance of these ailments can be characterized as one of the types of reactions to the constant tension of the nervous system. Depression manifests itself in the form of a critical attitude to oneself, irritability, insecurity, depression and increased tearfulness. Uncertainty of one's own significance and pessimistic attitude can lead to thoughts about suicide.

Hypomanic state can be described as a one-sided productive period, combined with excessive optimism and increased physical activity. Along with this, delusional thoughts, baseless fears and insomnia appear. Most patients during this period suffer from increased excitability of the nervous system, which leads to the appearance of signs of somatic disorders. Dysfunction of internal systems and organs, pain syndromes and autonomic pathologies accompany the affective period of the disease.

Active form

Before talking about how to recover, it should be mentioned that the pathology in question can occur both in the form of seizures and continuously. With exacerbations in the puberty, the occurrence of hypochondriacal or adynamic depression is characteristic, which violates the perception of the world. In addition, the disease is accompanied by symptoms of senestopathy.
At a more advanced age, seizures of the disease provoke the development of paranoid and affective disorders. Exacerbated schizotypal personality disorder, the symptoms have the following:

Crazy ideas - manifest in the form of obsessive drives, contrasting thoughts and suddenly developing phobic disorders. Many patients suffer from the thought that the disease is gradually driving them crazy. The progression of the disease leads to the fact that the obsession loses its affective color. Delusional thoughts acquire a uniform form, which has a negative effect on the patient's condition.
Depersonalization - characterized as violations in the field of self-awareness. Patients cease to perceive their own personality. This state is characterized by a lack of imagination, a decrease in the level of intelligence, emotional lability and changes in appearance. A person suffering from depersonalization perceives the world around him in the form of a “movie”, the events of which he observes from the side.
Hypochondria - manifests itself in the form of autonomic pathologies that disrupt the functioning of internal organs and systems. Disorders in cardiac activity, increased sweating, shortness of breath, insomnia, anorexia and bulimia, as well as attacks of nausea are the primary signs of hypochondriacal disorder. Also, this condition is characterized by conversion symptoms and a feeling of pain in various parts of the body.
Hysterical state - characterized by gross psychopathic disorders, which are manifested in the form of a passion for adventurism, vagrancy and deceit. The patient's behavior becomes demonstrative. Despite the absence of organic brain lesions, the patient gradually loses writing skills. Under the influence of stress factors, symptoms such as a feeling of nausea, heaviness in the head and hysterical attacks appear.

Most often, the disease develops before the age of 20, however, at a later age, the first signs of a mental illness may occur

Disability

It is important to pay attention to the fact that not everyone is given disability in schizotypal personality disorder. In the case of this disease, it all depends on the form of the course of the pathology, and the symptoms that come to the fore in the clinical picture. The level of social adaptation of the patient and the need for inpatient treatment are also important.

According to experts, the pathology under consideration develops in each person according to an individual scheme. Some of the patients have the ability to successfully integrate into society and realize themselves in a career. Others need material support from the state, as the disease develops more rapidly, which leads to a violation of many intellectual functions. In this situation, disability is awarded to the second category of patients.

Treatment methods

The treatment of this form of personality disorder involves strict medical control of the course of the disease. According to many people, with this pathology there is no need for drug therapy, since the disease has a slow pace of development. This approach is erroneous, because the symptoms of the disease cause an acute feeling of discomfort in the patient. In addition, the patient’s inner circle suffers.

Among men, this pathology is slightly more common than among women

Obsessive and depressive states, combined with psychopathic behavior and hallucinatory attacks, are corrected using modern pharmacological agents. In the case of this disease, the use of potent drugs is not particularly necessary, however, the complete absence of drug exposure can only aggravate the patient's condition. In this case, there is a high risk of suicidal thoughts and attempts to commit suicide.

Schizotypal disorder is included in the category of chronic diseases, the development of which is currently impossible to stop. The goal of therapy is to reduce the frequency and intensity of the manifestations of the symptoms of the disease and slow down the rate of progress. In addition, the doctor’s task is to reduce the severity of behavioral and emotional disorders. It is important to understand that, despite gradual progress, sooner or later the stabilization stage will begin. The prognosis of treatment of the pathology in question is, in most cases, positive, since the development of the disease rarely leads to the occurrence of irreversible personality defects.