[kreg]

I work with this guy, tall good looking but no one talks to him cause he's strange. Long spikes on an otherwise shaved head. I feel sorry for him and say hello occasionally. He has trouble making coherent speech. Stumbles over words and sentences. He goes way too far, over meticulous to a fault in his job duties. Someone said he should get a pin they give away for the great work he does. The manager said 'yeah but he won't wear it because he thinks they come from aliens. Psych is my hobby so I'm just wondering if he's schizo but the symptoms don't seem to fit.

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by kreg

I work with this guy, tall good looking but no one talks to him cause he's strange. Long spikes on an otherwise shaved head. I feel sorry for him and say hello occasionally. He has trouble making coherent speech. Stumbles over words and sentences. He goes way too far, over meticulous to a fault in his job duties. Someone said he should get a pin they give away for the great work he does. The manager said 'yeah but he won't wear it because he thinks they come from aliens. Psych is my hobby so I'm just wondering if he's schizo but the symptoms don't seem to fit.

my suggestion is not worry about whether your co worker is schizo or not. you probably will never know unless he decides to tell you, and self diagnosing others could end up leading you to believing he is something he may not be. just keep doing your part of the job and hopefully this other person will continue to his job to the best of his abilities.

I don't have an answer for you, but it made me sad when you said: no one talks to him cause he's strange. That is such a sad reflection of the world today.

Based on your info maybe he has a mental illness, maybe he doesn't. He would have to see a doctor to find out. It's entirely possible he just doesn't fit into societies mold of who you should be.

clearly something is wrong. Have you tried befriending him?

[Wild Coyote]

People can be very unkind toward anyone perceived to be different.
While you may wish to understand him, why the need to label him (with a diagnosis)?

Just be his friend.

We cannot diagnose here, by the way. That is left to qualified professionals.


WC

[kreg]

Originally Posted by justafriend306

clearly something is wrong. Have you tried befriending him?

Yes there is something obviously wrong with him and I did say that I've befriended him by saying hello and how ya doin? -and such things.

[*Laurie*]

Could be a million things; sounds like a cool guy to me. But then, I live in California

[possum220]

There are times when I have trouble with my speech. The words are there in my head they just come out disorganized. Even if people knew my diagnosis it would not help them to cope with it.

Continue to be his friend. I bet he has some really good qualities inside that you will see if you treat him like any other person.

[kreg]

Originally Posted by *Laurie*

Could be a million things; sounds like a cool guy to me. But then, I live in California

When I first saw him he looked a little strange with his 2 inch spikes of hair over very little hair. I thought 'well actually he could be a surfer dude but in the midwest? As time went on those spikes reached 6 inches which he now combs back/not straight up. Sometimes though he'd wear them straight up. People would comment. I thought what kind of personality is behind that?

[kreg]

Originally Posted by Wild Coyote

People can be very unkind toward anyone perceived to be different.
While you may wish to understand him, why the need to label him (with a diagnosis)?

Just be his friend.

We cannot diagnose here, by the way. That is left to qualified professionals.


WC

Just curious. Nice to have handles. Probably it's best not to label anyone because then you will be misled. In the future there will be no name like schizophrenia. Science and knowledge are constantly evolving things. Any diagnosis here is irrelevant anyway. My attitude on work is to disregard my own status but to look around and see who's day I can make better. Take the focus off of me which leads to jealousy, competition and other negative feelings.

One thing comes to my mind. Could he be wanting attention by his appearance? The dressing in an odd manner and drawing attention to one's self by way of appearance is a sometimes symptom of mania. It is also a sign of poor self esteem. It is not unusual to wish to appear unapproachable when one lacks confidence or a sense of worth.

Either way, how kind of you to reach out and thoughtful to be concerned. Well done.

[chrissyh23]

Originally Posted by kreg

I work with this guy, tall good looking but no one talks to him cause he's strange. Long spikes on an otherwise shaved head. I feel sorry for him and say hello occasionally. He has trouble making coherent speech. Stumbles over words and sentences. He goes way too far, over meticulous to a fault in his job duties. Someone said he should get a pin they give away for the great work he does. The manager said 'yeah but he won't wear it because he thinks they come from aliens. Psych is my hobby so I'm just wondering if he's schizo but the symptoms don't seem to fit.

I feel like may be that man has been placed in your life to be a true friend to. Imagine how lonely he must sometimes feel he has people all around him but no one brave enough to try and understand him. It breaks my heart when I know that people are treated indifferent or with contempt simply because they are different. May be if he had a friend he could increase his conversation skills so he could maybe try making more friends on his own. Just think about how much it could mean to him to have a friend a real friend.

[chrissyh23]

Originally Posted by justafriend306

One thing comes to my mind. Could he be wanting attention by his appearance? The dressing in an odd manner and drawing attention to one's self by way of appearance is a sometimes symptom of mania. It is also a sign of poor self esteem. It is not unusual to wish to appear unapproachable when one lacks confidence or a sense of worth.

Either way, how kind of you to reach out and thoughtful to be concerned. Well done.

I read somewhere that sometimes people will do extreme things with their hair or makeup because they feel invisible and figure that negative or any kind of attention is better than feeling like no one even knows if tou are here. Is this true?

[kreg]

Like someone who stutters he has trouble getting words out and forming sentences-nervous. But it's not stuttering. And he doesn't put things in proper perspective in that he goes to great detail on something that most would take care of in a flash. This wastes everyone's time and annoys the managers. He moves around in haste unnecessarily (I've seen this in others who are nervous and use the haste to block out fears.) But who can classify mental conditions? Next year there will be a new interpretation a new name. I do this because how can people be helped if you don't try to understand them?