schizoid personality disorder

schizoid personality disorder,

a personality disorder (DSM-IV) characterized by a defect in the ability to form interpersonal relationships, as shown by emotional coldness and aloofness, withdrawn and seclusive behavior, and indifference to praise, criticism, and the feelings of others. The person is unable to express hostility and ordinary aggressive feelings and reacts to disturbing experiences with apparent detachment. The person neither desires nor enjoys personal relationships, prefers solitary activities, and has no close friends or confidants.

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schizoid [skiz´oid, skit´soid]

1. the traits of shyness, sensitivity, social withdrawal, and introversion that characterize a person with schizoid personality disorder.

2. a term used loosely to refer to any of a variety of characteristics related to schizophrenia, including schizophrenia-like traits said to indicate a predisposition to schizophrenia as well as any disorder other than schizophrenia either occurring in a relative of a schizophrenic or occurring more commonly than average in families of schizophrenics.

3. a person with schizoid personality disorder.

schizoid personality disorder a personality disorder marked by withdrawal from social relationships and a restricted range of emotional experience and expression. An individual with a schizoid personality lacks the capacity for, or interest in, social relationships, is cold and aloof, consistently prefers solitary activities, appears to take pleasure in few activities, and is indifferent to praise, criticism, or the feelings of others. Such a person does not, however, show the eccentricities of speech or behavior found in the schizotypal personality disorder.

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schizoid personality disorder

301.20 DSM-IV Psychiatry A mental disorder characterized by '…a pervasive pattern of detachment from social relationships and a restricted range of expression of emotions in interpersonal settings.' Persons with SPD may have difficulties relating to others, are often reclusive and, as older adults, may live with their parents; onset in early adulthood. See Loner. Cf Schizophrenia.