Psychology

In todays high paced hectic world people are constantly faced by one form of stress or the other. This gives rise to a lot of disorders like Schizotypal personality disorder. Blessed are the people who dont suffer any sort of personality disorders, for a disorder can work havoc with our life and our relationships.

Persons having Schizotypal disorder keep away from interpersonal relationship. They are confined to themselves. They do not participate in social events. They feel uncomfortable when they are pushed to certain situations where they have to relate to others. The affected individuals are prone to cognitive and perceptual distortions. This leads to the manifestation of variety of eccentric behaviors that others often find confusing.

We can recognize an individual by his bizarre and eccentric behavior. He is confined to himself and is afraid of interacting with a crowd. They prefer to be inward. They choose to be inside a boundary away from interpersonal relationship. Their activities drift aimlessly. They have odd behavior and thoughts. Their speech is normal and coherent, but they talk about something which is not at all important. The other person may get confused and get bored. Their thought process is weird, suspicious, magical and filled with illusions. This may be due to perception distortion, and not able to mingle socially. The reason could be anxiety that develops due to their chosen isolation.

Symptoms
Wrong interpretation of events.
Affected individuals most of the time do not interpret the correct cause and effect of the situation.
They do not know how their behavior affects others.
These individuals may be superstitious. They are often engaged in these odd beliefs since they find solace in them. This is just to cope with their isolation with the social world.
They feel that they posses certain unusual powers to predict events before it happens.
Such people have odd thinking and speech patterns. Their speaking appears strange in structure and phrasing. There is no proper association of words and ideas. Their ideas may be abstract and very confusing. They can not stick to an ongoing conversation.
They are also very suspicious of others and show extreme distrust towards them.
They arent emotional. They appear to be aloof. They do not seem to enjoy their lives. This may be due to social rejection. They may bundle up their feelings for protective reasons.
They have unusual choice of clothing. Their personal appearance is not appealing. The clothes may be too small or large or unclean.
They choose their immediate family members as friends, and shy away from outsiders.

Onset  Dominance

Schizotypal personality disorder generally begins in early adulthood and may continue throughout life.
Theres no cure for schizotypal personality disorder, but psychotherapy and some medications are there for prevention and help.

There are chances that positive childhood experiences can reduce symptoms of schizotypal personality disorder in affected young people.

Since this disorder tends to become deep rooted as people age, its best to seek treatment as early as possible.

The people suffering from personality disorder usually seek help only at the urging of friends or relatives. Hence, if you find that a friend or a family member is behaving in an abnormal manner then please, look more carefully. They could be suffering from Schizotypal personality disorder. Kind suggestions are required to make the person seek medical attention, starting with a primary care physician or mental health provider.

Differential Diagnosis Issues
There are no laboratory tests for personality disorders.
Diagnosis normally comes after a thorough clinical interview.
The doctors ask questions about symptoms and mental well-being, and take a medical, psychiatric and social history.
A physical examination will help rule out other conditions, and a mental health provider will be consulted for further evaluation to confirm the disorder.
The symptoms for this disorder may begin in childhood or teenage showing tendency towards solitary pursuit of activities, poor peer relationships, pronounced social anxiety, and underachievement in school.
Other symptoms that can be present during the developmental years are
hypersensitivity to criticism or correction
Unusual use of language
Odd thoughts, or bizarre fantasies
Children with these tendencies appear socially inactive as compared with peers and often become the object of malicious teasing.
This doubly increases the feelings of isolation.
To conclude on this disorder accurately, there must be the presence of at least four of the above-mentioned symptoms.

The symptoms of schizotypal personality disorder can sometimes be confused with the symptoms seen in schizophrenia. The bizarre thinking associated with schizotypal personality disorder can be mistaken as some psychotic problem and misdiagnosed. There may be small percentage of psychotic episodes occurring in the patient with schizotypal personality disorder, but it is not as pronounced, frequent, or as intense as in schizophrenia. For an accurate diagnosis of schizotypal personality disorder, the symptoms for schizotypal cannot occur exclusively during the course of schizophrenia or other mood disorder that has psychotic features.

CausesEtiology of Condition
Ones personality is completely responsible for the ways one thinks, feels, behaves and reacts to the environment. Personality forms from a combination of genetics and early life experiences. If a person persistently feels or behaves in an inappropriate way, then that person has a personality disorder.

In normal development, children steps forward through several stages of social awareness and learn to accurately interpret the indications and intentions of others. For people with schizotypal personalities this social cognition is impaired, leading to development of illogical beliefs, magical thinking and paranoid thoughts, such as a nagging suspicion that one is being harassed, persecuted or treated unfairly.

The exact reason or cause of this impairment is unknown. This may be due to childhood abuse, neglect or stress resulting in the brain dysfunction that gives rise to schizotypal symptoms. Both genetics and environmental circumstances appear to play a role in development of the disorder.

A family history may also be the reason behind this disorder. Thus, we see that genes may contribute in the disorder of ones personality. Apart from this, a number of environmental factors such as a neglectful or abusive childhood home may also be the cause of the development of schizotypal personality disorder.

Treatment
This disorder is treated with a combination of therapy and medication. No said medicine is available for the disorder however, doctors may prescribe antidepressant or antipsychotic medications to help alleviate associative conditions such as anxiety, depression or other mood disorders.

Psychotherapy is the best answer. A trusting rapport should be build in therapy which may help people with schizotypal personality disorder contradict the mistrust or discomfort they have with developing interpersonal relationships.

These people need to learn specific interpersonal skills and new behaviors, as they often have difficulty responding appropriately to social indications. For instance, they can learn to express their feelings appropriately or adjust facial expressions and voices in reaction to certain stimuli.

They may respond to exercises that focus on interrupting distortions in thought. This type of therapy may use reasoning exercises to clarify social confusion and overcome self-defeating thoughts, especially in interpersonal situations.

Family support is very important. Treatment can be more effective when family members are involved. Seeking professional counseling as a group may help lessen 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.

It was a general belief 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.