Schizoid Personality Disorder Free Essay Example, 1000 words

SCHIZOID PERSONALITY DISORDER ID Number: of of School Estimated Word Count: 1,085 Date of Submission: November 15, 2011 SCHIZOID PERSONALITY DISORDER Introduction The schizoid personality is considered as one of the rarest types of personality disorders. It is also more common among the men than in women and those afflicted with this disorder can have little or no interest at all in developing normal relationships with other people. Unlike those diagnosed with the closest and almost similar disorders of schizotypal personal disorder and also the avoidant personality disorder, persons diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder do not have the characteristic cognitive perceptual distortions (schizotypal) nor the intense unexpressed desire to have relationships but avoid them due to exaggerated fears of rejection (avoidant type). A person diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder, however, shares the same features of the two other disorders in terms of social isolation and restricted or repressed emotional expression. The schizoid personality disorder differs from another almost similar disorder which is paranoid personality disorder in tha t it lacks the elements of mistrust and suspiciousness (Hales, Yudofsky and Gabbard, 2010, p. 303). In other words, it is very hard to spot except by someone who had been trained to diagnose it precisely and has therefore been rarely studied. We will write a custom essay sample on Schizoid Personality Disorder or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page Discussion Some psychologists question the criteria used in schizoid personality disorder diagnosis as it suggests some cultural and social biases. This is because some people are different does not mean they are pathological or dysfunctional. The basis for this contrary claim is that people tend to discriminate those belonging in the minority and equate that with an illness, almost similar to the earlier case of homosexuality which had been removed from the list of mental disorders with the pioneering research done by Dr. Evelyn Hooker that homosexuals are normal people. Be that as it may, people diagnosed with the schizoid personality disorder share similar characteristics of those diagnosed with schizophrenia such as emotional detachment (coldness) and a blunted or a flattened affect.