I, in one word, am Schizoid.

[Quagmire]

I have another screen name (I hope that's allowed. :foot

Actually, you're only allowed to have one account here.

...that doesn't have my same world view but is easier to learn from others as him. I guess it's like a self defense and because it's more amusing. This would be me without the shells. So you may or may not see me around.

What's in a name? (except that, like I said, here in RF it's one to a customer)

It's easy to find introverted people on the internet, there's no doubt there. Schizoids are damn near rampant (Or extreme introversion, if you prefer) . I'm just nervous about how my story is going to play out.
Perhaps it would be best if I stepped away from the problem and do other things I want to do like learn latin and write stories. The problem with that is when I begin doing something that is that time consuming I always stop and say to myself, "This is pointless." and fall back to self-analyzing, which is, of course, also pointless. Then I start analyzing the world, which is all just messed up. When I get annoyed enough with the world I dive back down into writing and learning Latin. It's a vicious cycle.

Lol! You just sound like a typical writer to me to. (that's a vicious cycle? I thought it was just the writing process).

 

[Loner]

To Cynic

Ya, that's the one difference with me and typical Schizoids. I do have a sex drive. (Edit: Some schizoid people have a sex drive but have no desire for relationships.)
The Schizoid definition, though it is true, is also a little eschew.
Some Schizoids *are* completely emotionally detached where as others only *act* emotionally detached in front of others. Which is trully Schizoid is debatable because researchers only ever see the way a Schizoid acts in front of people they don't really know.
Many people would *easily* say that I act emotionally detached and aloof. Most close family members of mine would not.
Also, I will admit that I don't fit Schizoid Personality Disorder to T but it is a definition that most closely resembles me.

 

[lilithu]

I have another screen name (I hope that's allowed. :foot

Acutally, I'm pretty sure that's against the rules. You should pick one or the other, but you should definitely stick around.

It's easy to find introverted people on the internet, there's no doubt there. Schizoids are damn near rampant (Or extreme introversion, if you prefer) .

You equate extreme introversion with being schizoid?

The problem with that is when I begin doing something that is that time consuming I always stop and say to myself, "This is pointless." and fall back to self-analyzing, which is, of course, also pointless.

I know I've already come off sounding harsh towards you and this is going to sound harsh too, but I am speaking from experience, because I've done that too:

It's just an excuse to not try because you're afraid to fail. Something that is time consuming is something that requires an investment of yourself. And methinks you're afraid that you'll have invested your time, your self into something and it still won't be as good as you want it to be. and then what does that say about you?

All it says about you is that you're not perfect, but you already knew that, right? And the world's not perfect. But you have to love the world, even tho it's not perfect, anyway because it's all there is. And you have to love yourself, even tho it's not perfect, anyway because you're all you is... erm... So write, learn Latin.

After all, if there is no point, then you might as well do something you enjoy.

 

[Cynic]

This is the diagnostic criteria from the DSM-IV-TR:

Diagnostic Critera for 301.20 Schizoid Personality Disorder

A. A pervasive pattern of detachment from social relationships and a restricted range of expression of emotions in interpersonal settings, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by four (or more) of the following:

(1) neither desires nor enjoys close relationships, including being a part of a family
(2) almost always choses solitary activities
(3) has little, if any, interest in having sexual experiences with another person
(4) takes pleasure in few, if any, activities
(5) lacks close friends or confidants other than first-degree relatives
(6) appears indifferent to the praise or criticism of others
(7) shows emotional coldness, detachment, or flattened affectivity

B. Does not occur exclusively during the course of Schizophrenia, a Mood Disorder with psychotic features, another Psychotic Disorder, or a Pervasive Development Disorder and is not due to the direct physiological effects of a general medical condition.

 

[Loner]

(1) neither desires nor enjoys close relationships, including being a part of a family
Mostly true. I don't want friends and I don't care much about family gatherings. I've just met the occasional woman that's incredibly fun and interesting. These very rare people are the only ones I've ever cared about having a relationship with.
(2) almost always cho[o]ses solitary activities
Hit
(3) has little, if any, interest in having sexual experiences with another person
Miss (Though I don't believe sex is the best thing about a relationship.)
(4) takes pleasure in few, if any, activities
Hit
(5) lacks close friends or confidants other than first-degree relatives
Hit
(6) appears indifferent to the praise or criticism of others
Hit
(7) shows emotional coldness, detachment, or flattened affectivity
Hit

5.5 : 7 isn't bad.
That's fine if you don't think I'm Schizoid. Like I said, it's just something that seems to describe me best.

I've done quite a bit of research about Schizoid Personality Disorder and I know 2 things about it:

1.) Most people that have been diagnosed as Schizoid do not exhibit every characteristic in the DSM-IV. The DSM-IV clearly states: "... indicated by four (or more) of the following..." This gives the "Schizoid" category a huge variety of people within it.

2.) Psychologists know hardly anything about Schizoid personality disorder. There are hardly any books on it and there are very little studies. This is because Schizoid people don't generally have a problem with their life. It's just the way they are. They are generally forced into the Psychologists office by someone else (Judge and family members being prominent.) The reports on Schizoid people are going to be off because the Schizoid person may seem emotionally detached simply because he or she doesn't want to be there. (There *are*, however, people that don't show emotion. They have to actually remind themselves to smile, for instance. I've read this from an actual Schizoid person.)


And, yes, I would equate SPD with extreme introversion, but I'm no expert.

Introversion:
3.Psychology. a.the act of directing one's interest inward or to things within the self. b.the state of being concerned primarily with one's own thoughts and feelings rather than with the external environment. Compare extroversion.

 

[PureX]

I'm a 18 years old, brown eyes, brown hair, 5'10", slender build man and schizoid in every respect except sexual desire.

I'm incredibly... afraid, I suppose, of my future. There's nothing that makes me happy and it's likely thirty years from now I'm going to be working a terrible job, living alone, and as aloof and tired of life as I am now.
I wish I had the sense to shoot myself.

To me, the world is just a place where mankind runs around in circles before we die. In my case, I just skip over the running around in circles and I find how terribly boring and mellow dramatic the world is.
I want to pick up smoking pot but, being an asthmatic, I breathe bad enough as it is.

The reason I created this account is to ask this question:

Is it better to live my life pretending that I like to be around people and that I have some sort of interests so that I can find a wife or is it better for me to be myself and find a cold dark hole to bury myself in and, even though I wont be happy, I'll be perpetually content.

What would be good, would be for you to recognize that you're way too self-absorbed. I realize that this is a natural state for a teenager, but you're coming to the end of your teens, and it's time for you to begin letting go of this obsession with your "self".

Stop thinking so much about who you are and who you aren't. Start thinking about what you can do with your life. What opportunities do you have available to you, and of those, how can you take the best advantage of them? It's time to stop thinking and start doing. It doesn't really even matter what, just do something. And start paying attention to how you're doing it. Get a job, and start learning how to be an employee. Take a class at your local college and start learning something fun and interesting. Try joining in on some sort of fun group activity so you can start learning how to be a 'participant'.

The fact is that you're 18 years old and you don't know squat about much of anything that matters, so sitting around thinking about yourself is a waste of time. You don't know anything about yourself. Not really. And the only way to lear is to start doing things. Trying different things. Meeting different people and interacting with them.

Eighteen is a great time of life ... it's the time to begin living as an individual. It's the dawn of adulthood. Time for you to put away all that childish self-centeredness, and to start learning how to be a member of the human community.

Good luck, and welcome!

 

[powder21]

Hi Loner. I'd like to welcome you to RF! I'd really like to offer some words of advice, but unfortunately, I'm in no position to do so and, luckily, I recognize that. I'm still trying to find answers to questions like these myself. I've read what others have had to say and I think it would be good for you to stick around. This forum can be very helpful. Looking forward to more of your posts.

 

[Diogenes]

Hi Loner. Have you read The Catcher in the Rye? Maybe you are just philosophically bummed out about things like Holden. All these things you are describing could just be symptoms of depression. I've gone through similiar experiences. I'd like to tell you that things get easier. But you do have more experiences to draw from as you get older. So keep on going...

 

[Cynic]

That's fine if you don't think I'm Schizoid. Like I said, it's just something that seems to describe me best.

I wasn't making any assumptions. I posted it because I think some people may confuse the word "Schizoid" with Schizophrenia. And, I didn't want to post everything out of the DMS-IV-TR on SPD, so I just posted the diagnostic criteria. Its sounds more like a neurological disorder, rather than a personality disorder. I'm assuming there must be some sort of physiological basis that is not known yet. There's probably something wrong with the limbic system; an intense lack of emotional salience in response to everything (in particular a social setting; I.E. the emotional significance of a smile.) It almost sounds as though a person has habituated to almost everything, as if the brain is saying there is no longer anything important to focus one's attention for the purpose of survival. As in the case of habituation, constant simtuli loses emotional significance so that the brain may focuses on new, unpredictable, and important stimuli that may be relevant to one's survival. (For example: when you constantly listen to a song, it will no longer elicit those spine tingles; or when you continually laugh at the same joke, the joke loses its surprise and therefore its ability to make you laugh.) I'm wondering what would happen if these people were studied using a galvanic skin response test, or placed in an fMRI.
Me thinks I will do research on this someday, if no one else does.

 

[rojse]

I'm a 18 years old, brown eyes, brown hair, 5'10", slender build man and schizoid in every respect except sexual desire.

I'm incredibly... afraid, I suppose, of my future. There's nothing that makes me happy and it's likely thirty years from now I'm going to be working a terrible job, living alone, and as aloof and tired of life as I am now.
I wish I had the sense to shoot myself.

To me, the world is just a place where mankind runs around in circles before we die. In my case, I just skip over the running around in circles and I find how terribly boring and mellow dramatic the world is.
I want to pick up smoking pot but, being an asthmatic, I breathe bad enough as it is.

The reason I created this account is to ask this question:

Is it better to live my life pretending that I like to be around people and that I have some sort of interests so that I can find a wife or is it better for me to be myself and find a cold dark hole to bury myself in and, even though I wont be happy, I'll be perpetually content.


Perhaps when I get older I'll be the same as I was during school. Back then I didn't care about relationships at all. I still don't care about friendship, it's meaningless. but now woman matter. Maybe even a girlfriend wouldn't make me happy, it could be just a nice thing for the first few years and then it too would die out.

I really don't know, what advice would you give? I would particularly like to see someone that has been diagnosed with Schizoid Personality Disorder.

I hear some people like me magically meet the perfect woman and are happy, but I also hear about people that live entirely isolated for a great majority of their lives.

I don't know if it's better to give up my love of silence and solitude to be with a woman I know would deserve better than what I am or just be on my own like I'm use to and leave everyone else out of it. Again, I wish I had the sense to shoot myself...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not depressed, I've been depressed, this is just constant lameness. It's like the train of life has passed me by and I'm left kicking a can down the tracks.

Without pretending to be knowledgeable in psychology, I would suggest that you find a line of work that interests you. Forget menial work that you don't want to do. What interests you?

If that won't work for you, what about getting a hobby? Something that gets you looking forward to the day. Personally, I like to write - I find it therapeutic, and gives me a release for my personal ideas, but your mileage may vary.

Have you considered doing something that gives meaning to other people, such as charity work? Something that would allow you to see good come out of your efforts and endeavour? Perhaps this could help.

As for finding a deeper meaning within life, I say you can make your own meanings and goals.

 

[Loner]

To Cynic:
Possible, and it probably would be a good idea to research it because, like I said, not much is known about SPD. Also, it is good to make the distinction between Schizoid and Schizophrenia.

To Purex:
You're just annoying. You remind me of my dad. When he was growing up he did all sorts of things, had lots of different jobs, had lots of friends, and got drunk on a regular basis. Eventually he found out he was a really good mechanic and spent the rest of his life **** poor and content. Simply because that worked for him he expects it to work for me.
You may or may not be right, I'll leave it at that. I'm too young and "self-absorbed" to really understand it anyway, right?

To rojse
Nothing interests me for very long. I have plans for the future but what I'm pursuing is something that would make me financially stable, nothing more.
My hobbies are a little more interesting, this being one of them. They don't make money, however.



Life's about finding your axiom. Some say it's given, some say it's found, and some say you're born with it. Nonetheless, it's just an axiom. Not good, not bad, it's just there. Perhaps it's the realization that it's pointless that I have such a problem in life or perhaps it's because people still need to give me my axiom. I don't know and maybe it would be best if I just let the problem go and do my own things for a while (as others have said). That's just easier said then done.

 

[Cynic]

To Cynic:
Possible, and it probably would be a good idea to research it because, like I said, not much is known about SPD.

Very good. Then you shall be my first guinea pig. Muahahahaha! :franken:

 

[PureX]

To Purex:
You're just annoying. You remind me of my dad. When he was growing up he did all sorts of things, had lots of different jobs, had lots of friends, and got drunk on a regular basis. Eventually he found out he was a really good mechanic and spent the rest of his life **** poor and content. Simply because that worked for him he expects it to work for me.
You may or may not be right, I'll leave it at that. I'm too young and "self-absorbed" to really understand it anyway, right?

The impulse to just sit and whine is the impulse of a helpless child. I guess you're just not ready to grow up, yet. When you are, you're going to have to quit whining and act, and then learn to learn from the consequences of your actions just like your father did. WHAT you learn may be different, however. This is the human condition. This is how life works for us all.

You're going to need to find your courage and begin growing up, soon. The longer you try to continue to sit and whine like a child, the more isolated and foolish you will become.

 

[MysticSang'ha]

Tashe delek and welcome to RF!

If you are ever in need of Big Squishy Hugs, just ask. :bounce




Peace,
Mystic

 

[ayani]

hey Loner.

heck, you're talking to us right now. that's something. sorry for all the book recommendations, but have you ever read anything by Viktor Frankl? you might like him.

 

[Hema]

Welcome to RF.

Don't worry about the future - it may never come. Don't let anything that happened in the past affect you now. The past is dead and gone and we can choose not to relive it in our minds because our minds are stronger than that. The present is all we have so live in the moment. You should be yourself but if you want a girlfriend, find a woman you are interested in and share your feelings with her. Be yourself with her so she will love you for who you are.

 

[Pariah]

Life's about finding your axiom. Some say it's given, some say it's found, and some say you're born with it. Nonetheless, it's just an axiom. Not good, not bad, it's just there. Perhaps it's the realization that it's pointless that I have such a problem in life or perhaps it's because people still need to give me my axiom. I don't know and maybe it would be best if I just let the problem go and do my own things for a while (as others have said). That's just easier said then done.

Does this simply refer to one's essence? speaking in Existentialist terms?

 

[Loner]

to (Edit: Purex):
Indeed, I'm insecure and whiny. Woop-dee-doo. Does that make you better than me? Your condescending outlook on me is, like I said before, annoying. But the most annoying part of it is, you're probably right. I should just go "do stuff" and let go of all of the introversion that can drive a person mad.
That doesn't sound at all interesting though, so many people have done it before. In most instances, I like the way I am.
The world isn't made for the introvert and I feel you, like my dad and so many others, believe that.


Ah! I gotta go
To everyone else:
I will keep that in mind when I'm looking for a "squishy hug".
I wouldn't mind being a guinnea pig but I wouldn't say I'm a perfect example of a Schizoid.
I'm not sure about Existentialism, there may be a God. (He seems kind of irrelevant when making life decisions though, as there are no immediate consequences.)
I don't want to worry about the future and I'll do my very best to be more laid back (I think that would scare most people that know me.)

 

[Pariah]

to Pariah:
Indeed, I'm insecure and whiny. Woop-dee-doo. Does that make you better than me? Your condescending outlook on me is, like I said before, annoying. But the most annoying part of it is, you're probably right. I should just go "do stuff" and let go of all of the introversion that can drive a person mad.
That doesn't sound at all interesting though, so many people have done it before. In most instances, I like the way I am.
The world isn't made for the introvert and I feel you, like my dad and so many others, believe that.

I'm not sure about Existentialism, there may be a God. (He seems kind of irrelevant when making life decisions though, as there are no immediate consequences.)

Woah. I think you're referring to PureX.
But I wasn't referring to Existentialism, but the word "axiom" and its relation to "essence".

The world isn't made for the introvert and I feel you, like my dad and so many others, believe that.

The world is what we make it. Introverts can find stable jobs - you just have to find one with minimal social interaction. An author would be the best, but it hardly falls under "stable". Maybe you could be a CIA agent and spy on people. You could live by yourself and make money.

 

[rojse]

To rojse
Nothing interests me for very long. I have plans for the future but what I'm pursuing is something that would make me financially stable, nothing more.
My hobbies are a little more interesting, this being one of them. They don't make money, however.

Life's about finding your axiom. Some say it's given, some say it's found, and some say you're born with it. Nonetheless, it's just an axiom. Not good, not bad, it's just there. Perhaps it's the realization that it's pointless that I have such a problem in life or perhaps it's because people still need to give me my axiom. I don't know and maybe it would be best if I just let the problem go and do my own things for a while (as others have said). That's just easier said then done.

At least your hobbies give you a reason to get out of bed in the morning (unless the hobby is lying in bed, reading, or the like).

For me, work is not about having fun, or being entertained. It's serious. You are there because you help your company, in some small way, to make money. If you make a mistake, you cost your company money and resources. If you make a really large mistake in some industries, you could kill or disable someone.

Rostered days off and holidays are for fun.