[andyb]

i have been supporting a man with spd who has been underweight his whole life and whilst doing some research on the disorder its been mentioned that the 2 quite often are linked, i would be interested in any theories or reasons for this if possible, it would be a great help to me x

[Callista]

If there's no eating disorder, it could be related to anhedonia. If you don't take much pleasure in the taste of food, you may forget that you need to eat.

[andyb]

so is there not a general theme with weight and spd? the man i support is thin and it came up on a video i was watching on youtube about it

[Callista]

I haven't studied it, really. Maybe nobody has; schizoid personality isn't a huge focus of research. I put "schizoid" and "anorexia" into a Medline search and got only fifteen results, many of which weren't very relevant and one of which said that there wasn't much connection between anorexia and personality disorders. "Schizoid" and "appetite" had only one result, which wasn't relevant at all... Sooo... yeah, you may be asking a question nobody's answered yet.

[RiverX]

Originally Posted by andyb

i have been supporting a man with spd who has been underweight his whole life and whilst doing some research on the disorder its been mentioned that the 2 quite often are linked, i would be interested in any theories or reasons for this if possible, it would be a great help to me x

andyb, yes there is a connection. food, nourishment is a big schiz issue, as it is for many pds. If you understand the underlying issues of schizoid, you can easily make the connection.
Shizs are starved of relationships, iether because of foundational relationships were abandoning and neglectful or because the love was toxic, ie loaded with intrusiveness/ demands that were inappropriate......... 'hunger' can be insatiable or aversive ~ annorexic, as you can imagine, it can go iether way. Emotional noursishment, and food nourishment .......... theres a link.

for deeper understanding check out www.selfinexile.com

best wishes.

I'm diagnosed with schizoid pd and was underweight before my 30's . I still have a problem with eating properly but since I'm on meds I gained weight. The medication I use, as I side-effect, induces a feeling of hunger when I wake up. I have no eating disorder though.

To put it into an extreme: for someone who's schizoid even your own physical body can be experienced as something foreign/detached from your psyche. I seldom enjoy a meal. I just eat it because if I don't I will feel out of energy later or already do. You can only ignore a feeling of hunger so long. Thinking of what to eat is a struggle because there is nothing that would come to my mind because I love it. I usually end up eating something I already know, is convenient etc.