Schizotypal Forum

There's only one person I know that I would care to see again. It's too much of a bother to keep friends in my opinion. I'm alone as much as possible and I like it this way. I can get the same amount of entertainment from people than I can from myself so there is no real point to even bother talking to them most of the time. I probably have schizoid PD so that may be why I feel that way, but my schizotypal traits definitely play a role in my desire to be alone.

Well, i'm schizotypal and I don't have friends. I have people who don't want to be around me at all, so basically i've only accumulated the opposite of friends. Hopefully you all do better in your interactions with others, because mine are all pretty horrible.

Sorry to ask, but in what way are they horrible?. Do you upset people? Or do they upset you? I would like to know because I have problems with close relationships...I can feel an altered state sometimes, I cant describe it, I just feel like an alien. LIke I am just not like them and could never fit in. The looks some people give me say it all. Although I can be quite sociable it isnt consistent. I am better on a one to one, but crowds do freak me out a bit. If I am with a group of people. All the voices merge and I cant understand what they are saying. I normally have to go away or focus just on one person and block out the rest.

I upset people which upsets me. I want to make simple conversation and have flowing, easy communication but I struggle with that....greatly. I feel weird because I am inexperienced. I've never been socially gifted and won't ever be, so introversion came easily (not natrually but easily).

And anyone we try to be friendly with either can't handle it or stays with us with a sense of pity or "despite" ourselves. Many of them simply do not believe that our thoughts are this strange or admire it as simply a deeper connection to creativity. This is infuriating, especially when they pitty

Can relate to this completely. Although people seem to like me, they cant seem to handle me and keep me at a distance, it is the weirdest thing. The longest standing friend I have, sometimes I think she is only my friend because she feels sorry for me.

I am 40 years old. I have been told that I have no close friends and sometimes my beliefe is that this is just some excuse that the norms try to conjure up so that they can categorize us being whack jobs. We're people too. We do things differently sure but it's very unfair to say that we don't have any friends. I got lots of friends but only a few of whom I would consider as close friends. Why? is there some requirement somewhere that says we have to have lots of friends? Is not having lots of friends a social faux pas? I take pleasure often in blowing holes in some of the crap that norms say about us. I can accept being schizotypal, but I'm not going to stand for unfair generalizations, stereotyping or anything rightdown to the root of their bigotry against us. I have friends. I have a schizotypal personality disorder.
I do not put a lot of stock in definitions and laws because they can be so archaic at times. Yes I like to use big words because I know that you like me probably use big words too and can understand and connect w/ me on that level. (part of how we are wired) I would like to think that those of us here on this board are "friends" we're here because we got this StPD stuff in common and I believe that talking about it between ourselves is going to help us to understand it and ourselves better. We're not alone. When I read my last psyche eval it accused me of over exaggerating and using elaborate ways to explain and do things. It was a funny coincidence that the way it went about it was so full of over-inflated words that didn't say a whole lot of much that was accusing me of doing it when it itself did it too.
Some of will probably find that we can communicate better through a forum like this than face to face, for some of that is the truth. Anyway I like to talk about it espcially with my own kind and that's y'all because you understand. We're there, we know ----> Tshirts $9.99 in the lobby.

Despite the fact that a good portion of my posts go unanswered and effectively ignored, I'll go ahead and write my experience.

I had friends up until my last few years of high school. That was when my closest friend told me he was going to commit suicide, and being the dutiful friend I was, I told someone who told someone who told someone at the high school. Long story short, he moved several thousand miles away because of me/his suicidal ideation. After this, I was left pretty much alone. I did end up making several friends after that, but after a rough breakup I lost nearly all my friends (pushed them away, more accurately), and have since been friendless (for 4+ years now) in real life.

I have no close friends (or any friends at all) outside of my family, and since the time I was diagnosed with SPD, I have thought that it seems silly to consider oneself a person with SPD if you have friends. To me, it's the major criteria of the disorder. If you do have friends and fit the other SPD criteria, you're really just eccentric/superstitious/imaginative... there's really no disorder to speak of. It seems like if you do have friends, it seems to be less of a Schizotypal Personality Disorder, it's more of a Schizotypal Personality. You're not really hindered in any real way that I can think of, you're just... different. At least that's the way I feel about it.

Hi systemstheory,

systemstheory88 wrote:Despite the fact that a good portion of my posts go unanswered and effectively ignored, I'll go ahead and write my experience.

I don't think your posts are being ignored, I just think the message board is too quiet sometimes

systemstheory88 wrote:I have thought that it seems silly to consider oneself a person with SPD if you have friends. To me, it's the major criteria of the disorder. If you do have friends and fit the other SPD criteria, you're really just eccentric/superstitious/imaginative... there's really no disorder to speak of. It seems like if you do have friends, it seems to be less of a Schizotypal Personality Disorder, it's more of a Schizotypal Personality. You're not really hindered in any real way that I can think of, you're just... different. At least that's the way I feel about it.

I'm hindered in many ways by my disorder... Pre-meds, I had minor hallucinations and delusions. My relationship with the real world is screwed up, and even though I have friends, I feel a certain distance from them. I have a hard time trusting them and other people. I have a constant feeling of impending doom.

I think what you are saying about this being a major criteria in StPD is just wrong. It's true for Schizoid Personality Disorder, but not for StPD. Here's what Wikipedia says about Schizoid PD:

Schizoid personality disorder (SPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a lack of interest in social relationships, a tendency towards a solitary lifestyle, secretiveness, and emotional coldness

I have no friends and no family either. I live in a city and walk regular routes to the market, drug store, etc.. Sometimes a person will say "good morning" or "nice day" because they're used to seeing me walk my route. It makes me feel good to have a feeling of good will from someone because the alienation I feel is intense.

I also have no close friends, although I do talk to people at clubs and free food places I go to. I like it this way at the moment. The last close friends I had were in high school, where I guess it is quite easy to make friends. Since I do distance university it is often isolating. I would say I am a quiet type, I spend my time at home with my family, reading most of the time or using the internet.