Summary
In this article I talked about a strategy for working with a schizoid character. I tried to formulate it in as simple words as possible. If it seems to you that this is a very long and difficult path, then you are right - this is a task that will take several years of close work with a psychologist. However, I hope that these notes can be useful for independent work. The better you understand your character, the easier life becomes.
You will find the reading list below. I would like to separately recommend the books of P.V. Volkova “Diversity of human worlds. Clinical characterology" and V.V. Ponomarenko "Seven Radicals". These Russian-language authors have collected a rich collection of literary and cinematic examples about each of the characters.
What to read K, Izard.
Psychology of emotions P. Ekman. Psychology of emotions. I know how you feel N.B. Kedrova. The ABC of Emotions N. McWilliams. Psychoanalytic diagnostics. Chapters 5-6. S. Johnson. Character psychotherapy. Chapters 2 and 5. G. Guntrip. Schizoid phenomena, object relations and the self. Healthy? Join my group on VKontakte: You can also find me on FB, LiveJournal and Telegram:
Teenage years
The most difficult stage for children seeking solitude is their teenage years. They are intellectually superior to their classmates. But they constantly experience rejection and are deprived of normal relationships with them. Their self-esteem goes up and down. The child is either proud of his intellectual abilities, or falls into self-flagellation. When his parents invade his inner world, he protests.
A schizoid gets irritated by many things: someday someone enters his room without knocking, touches his things, controls his studies and shows interest in his life. Usually he is not burdened by loneliness, but solitude always attracts the attention of his classmates. Such children can play sports, but they strive not for team sports, but for individual sports.
Sensitive-schizoid personality type
These types of people are sensitive and impressionable. They place high demands on themselves and suffer from low self-esteem, timidity and shyness. When they encounter troubles, they show caution, suspicion, and withdraw into themselves. Dress with taste. Their faces bear the imprint of good nature and attentiveness. They monitor the reactions of others very sensitively.
They are distinguished by their diligence and devotion, they have a penchant for kindness, and they are sociable. It is important for them to be recognized in society. Interests relate to the intellectual sphere. From a young age, they tend to avoid adventures and risky activities. But they are critical of themselves, and therefore they strive to compensate for a lot in themselves. They try to behave more cheekily and boldly. But the slightest manifestation of sympathy for them makes them burst into tears, indicating a deeply felt internal conflict. The leadership role is difficult for them.
Schizoid paranoid personality type
There are never pure types, so a schizoid may have paranoid traits. In this case, his tendency to suspicion is more clearly expressed. He strives to strike first before the blow he imagines. Most often, it is the paranoid who find themselves in a situation where they are being watched or persecuted. This is all due to the fact that their character attracts this kind of trouble.
Children growing up with paranoid traits have had their sense of self-worth violated. They may feel overwhelmed by criticism and unfair punishments.
Often, parents who strive to raise a child using harsh methods raise a paranoid child.
However, these traits are also passed on from parents. When the mother herself needs consolation and therefore cannot accept the children’s fears and anxieties, they reject the anxiety so as not to feel it. But anxiety does not go away, but goes out into the outside world in this way. “I hit the furniture” will become “The furniture hit me!” Evil furniture! This leads to the formation of a paranoid personality type, living in fear and expectation of harm from strangers. A person will always monitor his relationships with them with special vigilance.
Within normal limits, paranoia manifests itself in the belief that some members of society are dangerous to humans - terrorists, racists, which is quite justified. But the fact that paranoiacs are preoccupied with this shows a certain obsession with this idea.
A big step in realizing your own paranoia is recognizing that a person attributes non-existent traits to others.
Etymology
The word "paranoid" can be translated as "crazy." "Para-" - about. “Noo-” - mind, spiritual sphere. At the suggestion of Academician Vernadsky, the word “noosphere” entered the lexicon of humanity, by analogy with the stratosphere and biosphere... The noosphere, according to Vernadsky, is the mind of the Earth.
So “noo” is the root of the word “paranoid.” But “the tail is far from the nose,” and, as often happens in children’s drawings, the nose is an elephant, and the tail is a crocodile... The original meaning of the word “paranoid” (“insane”) was more in line with the essence, when it referred to patients with pure, that is, without hallucinations , delusions of persecution. But now it is applied to people with a paranoid psychotype. And for them the direct translation of this word does not fit the meaning.
The paranoid psychotype does not have such a deviation from the norm that borders on madness, but there is a main personality trait that determines many other things - an unusually pronounced sense of purpose.
So let’s not confuse a paranoid person with a patient with schizophrenia, in whom paranoid syndrome is the leading one.
Common features
People with a schizoid personality type are not that rare. Among them there are completely closed ones, and there are also geniuses.
Their main characteristic is isolation from the world and underdevelopment of the emotional sphere. A sign of a schizoid personality type is the versatility of emotions in the absence of their manifestation. They are often convinced that they are independent from society and treat others arrogantly. They absolutely do not know how to listen and console, sympathy is alien to them. They are often called eccentrics and strange.
Goals are in society
The goals of a paranoid person are usually in society. When Gogol's Bashmachkin, perked up thanks to his new overcoat, advertised the rewriting of texts, he had his first client, who brought him a project about the reconstruction of society. That was paranoid.
Paranoid people are the creators of a new social ideology, new economic macro-social systems, a new religion, new movements in old religions.
The scary thing is that they demand from other people unconditional faith in their ideological constructs. And even if their ideas did not withstand experimental testing, then, in their opinion, so much the worse for experimental testing, which means that it was carried out incorrectly, and their ideas are always correct. They renew the ideology. What was it like with communism? Why didn't it work? It turns out that it is not the idea of egalitarian communism that is bad, but its implementation, says the paranoid communist. Bad people embodied this idea. And he will select new personnel, new adepts, new apostles, new warriors. But don't oversimplify. Fromm criticizes, but does not completely reject Marx's communism. And now I’m not discussing the idea of communism, but paranoid communists.
Hypersensitivity and withdrawal
A good understanding of other people's emotions is a special case of general schizoid sensitivity. These people live “without skin” - they feel a lot and react sharply to external stimuli - from water dripping from a tap to a requirement to take part in a corporate party. Sensitivity in schizoids is complemented by rich emotionality - there are a lot of feelings in their world. But they are all inside, and only a few reach the surface. It is because of this that schizoids are often mistakenly seen as wooden and insensitive.
Therapy
Only a psychiatrist knows how to treat a schizoid personality type. Neither psychotherapists nor psychologists can make a diagnosis. Common tests for schizoid personality type do not help either. The whole point is that a person can perceive himself completely differently than he really is, and this is a common situation. Specific medical tests for the schizoid personality type - Rorschach, TAT - only help in making a diagnosis. The psychiatrist relies on the patient's entire life history to accurately classify him as a particular personality type.
Patients often suffer from anxiety and depression. Their ability to communicate and build relationships is poorly developed. If therapy is absent, they have even more difficulty in social situations and this leads to isolation.
Therapy involves long-term work with a psychotherapist who has extensive experience interacting with such people.
Some psychotherapeutic methods have proven extremely effective in treating schizoid personality disorder. These consultations make it easier for the patient to interact in society, and he forms close relationships with the environment. He is taught the necessary social skills that lead to him feeling comfortable in communication.
Cognitive behavioral therapy methods help to get rid of eccentric and socially undesirable actions. They also help identify harmful thoughts in your head and replace them with positive ones.
The impact of family therapy on schizoids who live with someone is very useful. This helps strengthen relationships between loved ones.
Sometimes, along with psychotherapy, medications are prescribed that relieve anxiety and relieve depression. There is no medication specifically designed for this personality type, but antidepressants relieve a number of symptoms that schizoid people experience.
There are currently no known ways to prevent schizoid personality disorder. But if you diagnose it early and treat individual manifestations, then the person adapts to society and feels comfortable being in it.
Schizoid vs. schizophrenia
Often people take questionnaires and get scared: the words “schizoid” and “schizophrenia” are very similar. In fact, these are different concepts.
Schizophrenia is a mental illness associated with the development of a schizophrenic defect. It requires medication support and rehabilitation.
Schizoidness is a character type. It can also bring a lot of problems. But at the same time, it does not require treatment, but rather psychological correction.
Working on your character is more like biohacking (I call this process psychohacking). The procedure is optional, but useful and interesting.
At the end of the article you will find a list of references for self-study. You can ask questions in the comments - I always answer them.
