Schizotypal Disorder Resources

What is the difference between Schizoid Personality Disorder and Schizotypal Personality Disorder?

What is the schizophrenic spectrum?

What are the causes of Schizotypal Personality Disorder?

Is Schizotypal Personality Disorder mild Schizophrenia?

What is the prevalence of Schizotypal Personality Disorder?

What are some treatments for Schizotypal Personality Disorder?

Are Schizotypal Disorder and Schizotypal Personality Disorder the same thing?

There are many similarities between the Schizotypal and Schizoid personalities. Most notable of the similarities is the inability to initiate or maintain relationships (both friendly and romantic). The difference between the two seems to be that those labeled as Schizotypal avoid social interaction because of a deep-seated fear of people. The Schizoid individual simply feels no desire to form relationships, because they quite literally see no point in sharing their time with others. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizotypal_personality_disorder

An important distinction is that people with Schizoid Personality don't typically experience the perceptual distortions, paranoia or illusions typical of Schizotypal Personality or the psychotic episodes of Schizophrenia.

Based on family inheritance and genetic studies, Schizophrenia, Schizotypal Personality Disorder and Schizoid PD are considered to be part of a "schizophrenic spectrum" of mental illness. Although Schizophrenia is categorized as a Psychotic Disorder and both Schizoid and Schizotypal are Personality Disorders, all three share several symptoms, including avoidance of social relations and flat emotional affect. An important distinction is that people with Schizoid Personality don't typically experience the perceptual distortions, paranoia or illusions typical of Schizotypal Personality or the psychotic episodes of Schizophrenia.

http://personalitydisorders.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_schizophrenic_spectrum

Genetic

Although listed in the DSM-IV-TR on Axis II, schizotypal personality disorder is widely understood to be a "schizophrenia spectrum" disorder. If you look at the relatives of individuals who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, rates of schizotypal PD will be much higher in those individuals than in the relatives of people with other mental illnesses or in the relatives of community controls with no mental illness. Technically speaking, schizotypal PD is an "extended phenotype" that helps geneticists track the familial or genetic transmission of the genes that are implicated in schizophrenia. There are dozens of studies showing that individuals with schizotypal PD look similar to individuals with schizophrenia on a very wide range of neuropsychological tests. Cognitive deficits in patients with schizotypal PD are very similar to, but somewhat milder than, those for patients with schizophrenia.

Social / Environmental

People with schizotypal PD, like patients with schizophrenia, may be quite sensitive to interpersonal criticism and hostility, and there is now evidence to suggest that parenting styles, early separation and early childhood neglect can lead to the development of schizotypal traits.

It has been speculated that the schizotypal individual develops a fear of, strong objection to, or incapacity for social interaction, due to the sum of their past social experiences being negative in nature. That as infants they do not learn how to interact with others, and as children and adults this inability quickly makes them a target for other people. Eventually, the individual learns (most often unconsciously) to see people as harmful and a source of negativity, suffering and ostracization. This leads to the development of "ideas of reference," in which the schizotypal individual believes that events are of special relevance to them or that benign events are somehow related to them (e.g., sees two people laughing and believes that the people are laughing at them). The individual may realize that their ideas of reference are irrational, but maintains them nonetheless. This exacerbates the individual's social anxiety, causing them to skew away from society and withdraw into their own world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizotypal_personality_disorder

Schizotypal personality disorder is a mental disorder related to schizophrenia. Symptoms of schizotypal personality disorder are actually so similar to schizophrenia that some researchers speculate the personality disorder is actually a mild variety of schizophrenia.

Like most types of personality disorders, the cause of schizotypal personality disorder is unknown. Researchers have suggested that the personality disorder is closely related to schizophrenia, and schizotypal personality disorder is more common in families with a history of schizophrenia. This connection has suggested a genetic basis for schizotypal personality disorder, but definitive proof of a genetic cause has yet to be found.

Abnormal behavior patterns and beliefs vary in severity among people with schizotypal personality disorder. Severe cases may closely resemble schizophrenic delusions, including bizarre claims and paranoia (believing that dogs are government agents, for instance, or that news reporters are capable of mind control).

http://www.psychiatric-disorders.com/articles/personality-disorders/schizotypal-disorder.php

The prevalence of schizotypal personality disorder is estimated to range from 0.6% to 5.1%, with a median rate of about 3% of the nonclinical population. In a clinical sample of psychiatric patients, the prevalence ranged from 2.0% to 64%, with a median prevalence of 17.5%. This wide variation in prevalence rates may reflect the controversy surrounding the classification of schizotypal disorder as a separate personality disorder, instead of a component of schizophrenia.

http://books.google.com/books?id=a-GcGVtBnqQC&pg=PA426&dq=prevalence+of+schizotypal+personality+disorder

Treatment for schizotypal personality disorder may be with a combination of medication and one or more of several types of therapy:

• Medications: There's no specific drug treatment for the disorder; however, doctors may prescribe antidepressant or antipsychotic medications to help alleviate associative conditions such as anxiety, depression or other mood disorders. For example, treatment for distorted thinking may be with the prescription medications risperidone (Risperdal) and olanzapine (Zyprexa).

• Psychotherapy: Building a trusting rapport in therapy may help people with schizotypal personality disorder contradict the mistrust or discomfort they have with developing interpersonal relationships.

• Behavior therapy: People with schizotypal personalities often need to learn specific interpersonal skills and new behaviors, as they often have difficulty responding appropriately to social cues. For example, they might learn to express appropriate feelings or adjust facial expressions and voices in reaction to certain stimuli.

• Cognitive therapy: People with schizotypal personality disorder may respond to exercises that focus on interrupting distortions in thought. For example, this type of therapy may use reasoning exercises to clarify social confusion and overcome self-defeating thoughts, especially in interpersonal situations.

• Family therapy: Treatment can be more effective when family members are involved. Seeking professional counseling as a group may help diminish angry confrontations or emotional distancing in the home. Family therapy may also offer the affected person reassurances of a support structure and a boost in morale.

Until recently, doctors have generally believed that once a personality disorder has developed it will last throughout life. However, new research has suggested that the symptoms of conditions such as schizotypal personality disorder may improve significantly over time. Factors that appear most likely to reduce the symptoms of this disorder include positive relationships with friends and family as well as a sense of achievement at school, work and in extracurricular activities.

Researchers believe that these experiences may create a protective effect by fostering — among other positive traits — self-confidence, a belief in one's ability to overcome difficulty and a sense of social support. These findings also indicate that early interventions such as youth programs that foster personal achievement and strong community relationships may help prevent personality disorders in at-risk children. The earlier these kinds of interventions reach a child in any challenging situation, the better his or her chances of doing well.

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/showthread.php?t=13791

Although the ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for schizotypal disorder differ in detail from the DSM-IV criteria for schizotypal personality disorder, they define essentially the same condition. ICD-10 does not consider the disorder to be a personality disorder, and it classes it with schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorders.

http://groups.msn.com/PsychHelp/schizotypal1.msnw