Schizotypal Forum

Just wanting to see who and how many of us are actually diagnosed with schizotypal disorder. Please post your answer if you want to.

If you are someone who haven't been diagnosed, but believe you are suffering from StPD, please explain to me why you are diagnosing yourself and why you haven't sought the help of a psychiatrist when you believe you are sick with this disorder.

/end of rant!

OK...I had never heard of this dissorder untill round about the 6th of June of this year.

I was having problems in work, people over reacting to me and saying I didnt relay information correctly and sometimes didnt make much sense when I was speaking to them.
This disturbed me, because I know it is true. The only friend I have, always tells me i am odd...and notice really stupid things...(stupid to her that is)
Then with the disturbance came the 'inner voices' the ones telling my I am no good, When I am not disturbed, I just give them micky mouse voices and they go away...(a trick a fellow interneter told me)
Then came all the paranoia, feelings that creep up on me from time to time, thinking people are talking about me, I can 'know' what they are thinking..
After checking out the forums, I found that I could identify to some of the personality dissorders, APD, StPD and another one I cant remember...some kind of klinging to other people kind of dissorder...
In the place where I work there is a guy younger than me, he leant me his car once when mine broke down..I am obsessed with him...and think about him almost all the time...!
before I was working,
I was seeing a shrink, about a year ago...I saw him for 18 months and we never worked through anything! We had a kind of emotional affair, a dual relationship, bad deal..now that was paranoia..(I live in a small community)

Befor the shrink I hardly had any contact with anybody but immediate family...for nearly 20 years...just living in my own world, painting and dealing with my kids, but it came to a point now where I notice traits of me in them, it is spooky...
I dont actually beleive i Need shrink or a diagnosis..cos since I have been checking this forum I have seen some interesting stuff and I am learning a lot about myself...I have learnt to control a lot of stuff over the years, 'and to pretend'...my kids no I am odd...they oftern say to me "why cant you be like other mothers?"..but they love me really...you see that is second bad experience I have had with shrinks I would not think of seeing another one, healing comes from within

I am going to rant a little more... this is not against you personally, mysteryteacher.

I just have a hard time believing that someone who is truly schizotypal can recover without the help of meds and/or therapy. I'm thinking, if you don't need help of some sort, that must mean you can function well enough that you don't have a disorder. I've said this many times but I will say it again: Everyone fits the criteria of some mental disorder, but if they can function IRL, then they don't have a disorder.

And I also dislike self-diagnosing. If you really believe you are sick with something (be it physically or mentally), wouldn't you want to go to a doctor to find out? Wouldn't you want to have some relief from your illness? Also, I believe if you diagnose yourself with something, you (maybe secretly) want to have that illness. Why would anyone wish this upon themselves?

I think there are too many people on this board who diagnose themselves without seeking the help of a professional. And I think this it is making a mockery of us who actually suffer from the disorder. I've seen too many posts (not so much on this forum, but on other forums) saying "I don't have any friends and I live in my own world, that must mean I am schizotypal". NO, it does not mean that you are schizotypal, it just means that you are lonely!

I realize there are many reasons for not wanting to see a psychiatrist; it's expensive in some countries, maybe you've had bad experiences in the past, the mental health care system leaves a lot to be desired in most countries, etc. But still, it's hard to take someone seriously when they don't go and get it checked out.

It's like, if someone told me they had cancer but didn't go to see a doctor. I'd have a hard time believing them. And I'd have a hard time caring about them being ill. I'd think they were a hypochondriac and that they were making a mockery of other cancer patients.

I am making this post into a sticky because I think it's an interesting poll.

As the administrator, I feel it is important for me to say that, even though this is an interesting discussion, people who haven't been diagnosed yet are also welcome here on the forum and shouldn't feel unwelcome because of the discussion.

I suffer from an 'invisible' desease. It is called Fibromyalgia*. I have lived with this desease for over 18 years, I was diagnosed 3 years ago. Amazingly enough, over the years I learned to listen to my body, I knew there was something wrong. Had two kids, my symtoms persited. It was very hard for me to beleive in myself, sometimes I would doubt and think...'it must all be in my head'! I would work like crazy, trying to convince myself I never had anything. It took 15 years to finaly get a diagnosis.
People who I talk to on the Fibro forums, find it hard to beleive I dont have meds...that I can 'still function' physicaly. Many end up 'ceasing up'..

See the truth is Karla some people have a very strong will power. I also do. And strong beleif systems. I have such a beleif system, it keeps me on track

You have no idea how much my personality distrupts my life. I can only give partialy of myself on here...I am 42 years old, and I am sure I have the capability of seeing if I have a distruptive Personality dissorder. I know that in the past I have had problems with relationships. I have simply stated here that this dissorder, is 'closer' to any of the others I have seen.

The health system here is discusting. And quite frankly I would be frightened to go and seek proffessional help, for fear they pumped me with drugs..one of my main problems with the fibro..cant take drugs...have bad reactions.

As for being lonely, not really. I like being alone...
PS. what is a sticky?

* Fibromyalgia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibromyalgia
http://chronicfatigue.about.com/od/fibr ... toryfm.htm

My diagnosis is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I have also been diagnosed as Schizoaffective Disorder earlier on in my treatment. I've looked at many of the symptoms of personality disorders and in my opinion some of the symptoms can be positive things. I don't understand why being eccentric is such a bad thing. I agree that you should see a psychologist or psychiatrist for a diagnosis, but before I was diagnosed with OCD I believed that is what I had. I also believed I had Schizotypal or Schizoid Personality Disorder, because I had bad social anxiety, hadn't had friends for a long time and was a little bit paranoid. I found I wasn't bothered by my personality disorder symptoms as much as my OCD. So you can have symptoms of a personality disorder and not the official diagnosis.

Well the thing is, I am at a phase now where I am feeling a lot..of instability, dont seem to be jumping back to normal as quickly. If I go to therapy, then chances are things will start to 'surface'. I dont know if I could handle that right now. I dont have any help at all. So if I break down, my kids dont have anyone to look after them. So I am hoping to go on as long as I can..sometimes on my darkest days I think of haveing them put into care just whilst I sort myself out. But I fear theat if I cross the line, my sanity line, that I wont be able to come back.....

I really hope living becomes better for all of the other people who are having trouble interacting. I really am having a difficult experience, so I know how you all who are struggling feel. Being diagnosed was an experience filled with mixed emotions. I didn't identify with every symptom of the disorder, but I did identify with most of them. I took a test and that conluded that I had StPD. It explained why I never interacted well with people and had an indifference to many things that people usually care about. What bothers me is that the future for me looks bleak based on the past. I always think about one big question, "Will I ever be able to become independent, get a decent job, and prevent paranoia and other aspects of my "disorder" cloud my logical judgement?"

Agony wrote:"Being diagnosed was an experience filled with mixed emotions....
Will I ever be able to become independent, get a decent job, and prevent paranoia and other aspects of my "disorder" cloud my logical judgement?"

Yes, yes and yes... It's all possible. There'll always be some caveats, but that's part of the human condition - we all have them, StPD or no. You'll find there are parts of your personality that can transcend your disorder. At least you know from your diagnosis what the obstacles are... Being aware of your personality terrain is as important to moving on with your life as is driving with your eyes open!