Mental health quizzes say I have schizoid PD

Ahh probably same for me. The IST part is for sure anyhow.

Yeah that's a real fun mix, lol. So it's like you don't know how to connect with anyone and you feel better off alone but yet you can't be alone, too restless alone?

Tell me if I guessed wrong.

Well, I do like to be alone. I have never had a lot of friends. I do enjoy being with my 2 friends, but I find it very difficult to initiate the contact.

I work in a helping profession, and people who I interact with there find me warm and caring, especially girls with a lack of a mother.

I do get restless, and want to not be alone but I don't do anything about it.

You know what I've been thinking about... it's kinda silly, but I'm re-reading The Hunger Games trilogy, and I'm trying to diagnose Katniss.
If you've only seen the movies it probably won't make sense, but I think she may very well have SPD. She doesn't really seem to need people, or like needing them. But then I realized, that's probably just because of the life she leads. She can't trust anyone, she feeds her own family. By the end of the series it becomes clear she has strong emotions, loyalty and love, but they rarely come out.
What's interesting to me is I could see myself being like her. If I lived like that, basically in the 3rd world, and had those responsibilities thrust on me, and the constant threat of the Games discouraging me from having a family, I think I'd be just like her. I see that as the inner struggle she goes through, learning to trust and love. And like what I've heard of people with SPD, she does have one person she cares about fiercely: her sister.

But it struck me in an odd way. At first I thought she might have SPD, then I realized it was probably just circumstances that made her act that way.
Might it be the same for me? I don't have SPD, but there is something else in my life that makes me seem that way?

I should look into other PDs I guess. Haven't read the details but "avoidant" is probably one of the top five words you could use to describe me.

Wow this has given me a lot to think about.
So apparently psychologists aren't in agreement about whether psychosis is black and white, or a spectrum, nor what distinguishes psychosis from other mental illness?
That sure complicates things.

Can someone help me decode this? I'm not sure if I should start a whole new thread somewhere else, now I'm really curious about psychosis, but it's such a broad topic.

So what does it mean by four "factors"? If you have some or all of these symptoms, you're on the psychosis spectrum? Because I definitely have cognitive disorganization and impulsive noncomformity, and some unusual experiences. I hallucinated once during a bad panic attack, and I do have some odd beliefs that I can't explain. Then again, so do religious people. There's a big gray line there, to me.
And if the ones who say schizotypy is a genetic vulnerability to psychosis are right, I'm screwed. Dementia runs in the family, and my grandmother who didn't have dementia would sometimes tell stories that never happened, or change major details, without seeming to know it.

Ugh. More and more I'm just wanting to make an appointment with a clinical psych, and walk in and just say, "Give me every test you've got."

If it's bugging you, find a clinical psych.

I think the idea that scizotypy is on a spectrum is not supported by the new DSM, so I doubt you will get that answered. But yes, reading that article it does seem to indicate that if you have the 4 factors you are on the psychosis end of the scale. It's always a good idea to take wikipedia with a grain of salt. Probably the articles on PC are more reliable.

But IMHO none would be as helpful as that psych and his/her tests. .

Yeah, guess that's my first stop, before actual therapy. I'm now 99% sure I actually have all of the Cluster C PDs (avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive). I fulfill all 7 of the DSM criteria for avoidant, and most of the dependent as well.
Would make sense too, I was diagnosed with OCPD when I was 17, so I suppose the psych I was seeing then wrote off my other symptoms as teenage angst.

But hey, I do love taking tests. If the ones on this site are anything like the official ones (and many of them do seem to be based on DSM criteria), then I'm pretty confident about what the diagnosis will be. Finally.

Dementia != schizophrenia, it could be Alzheimer etc.

Yes in that theory those four factors make up the schizotypy trait.

Whatever you describe here doesn't sound very serious - how old are you?

I don't know what you mean by "odd beliefs" though, and how real the "cognitive disorganization" is.

But sure, if you want to get checked out for whatever concrete issues you actually have, I do encourage you to go.

Yes be wary of diagnosing yourself. It's one of the first things they warn students who are taking abnormal psych classes. It's easy to see yourself (or others) in many different disorders. But it's really not as simple as ticking boxes. A student may see a lot of traits they have in OCD for example, while being otherwise healthy.

On forums we just can't know enough to diagnose anything. Not even a proficient psychiatrist would do that. And we can't anyways because most of us have no training.

Be open to the possibility that when you get an official diagnosis, it might not be what you expected.

I'm glad you said that you are going to get some help with these things. That's a big step to getting some relief in the things that you've been struggling with.

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