Answering Your Questions About Schizoid

I’m excited that the schizoid personality series has elicited so much discussion! Those with schizoid personalities are often misunderstood, and I’ve found they have an authentic depth that is unparalleled to other personalities. It’s been an honor to ponder viewer questions and comments! So let’s explore some of the common questions that popped up!

What is the Correct Way to Pronounce Schizoid?

There’s a lot of debate about the “correct” way to pronounce schizoid. Looking into this more, it really depends on region, language, discipline, and human differences. There is a German pronunciation based on “schizophrenie” (Shitz-a-phrenie) where the German Z pronunciation sounds very much like an English T…there’s no T though! Then there’s a Greek stem that uses the root skei-, and this stem is also used to differentiate schizoid from the severity of schizophrenia. In my training, Greek was used, and that is how I came to pronounce schizoid as “Skee-zoid,” though some other professions, especially psychiatry tend to pronounce it as “Skit-zoid.”

How Do We Know About Schizoid?

I’ve always been interested in understanding how and why people are the way they are, which stems from my own experience of feeling different and like an outsider. I struggled with the lack of depth in my psychological education until my psychodynamic class in graduate school, and it finally felt right! I then discovered I am a schizoid personality type, which led to deep diving into the research on schizoid phenomena. I will continue on that path for the rest of my life.

…But if I’m actually a schizoid personality, how am I engaging in a front-facing, non-turtle-y podcast? First, Personality Couch is an amazing nerdy outlet for my passionate (maybe borderline obsessive? 😜) pursuit of understanding personality. Ask me to talk about the weather, shopping, or politics, and I will not come out of my turtle shell, thank you very much. Also, I would never be able to do the podcast without riding on the coattails of Doc Bok’s energy and leadership (check out her bio here to get to know her!), so I get to do my fun research and let her guide that artistic part that is necessary for a podcast. Lastly, I’ve learned to adapt and mask, strengthening my “expressive muscles” so I can step into the needed roles of life (e.g., podcaster, therapist, mother).

Masking in Schizoid

Masking involves hiding traits or behaviors to better blend in social situations, like social camouflaging. For a schizoid personality, there’s often a dynamic where increasing emotional expression and engaging in exhausting social cues/scripts results in less attention from others. Schizoids are capable of expression¹, but it’s tiring, even if it is often protective. Schizoid females may be socialized to increase their expression muscle because a female with flat affect is seen as more negative than a male (RBF vs. Stoic). There are also some schizoids in positions that require leadership, socialization, parenting, and front-facing expressiveness that requires masking (and sometimes dissociation), but it’s so exhausting! It would also make sense that schizoid females may also be misdiagnosed more frequently, similar to autism.

Why Do We Talk About Mom So Much?

Psychoanalytic and psychodynamic theory do (over)emphasize one’s attachment to their mother and the behaviors of the mother. The mother, historically, is involved in those very first dynamics of infant safety, bonding, nurturing, and attachment. However, “mother” could also refer to any primary caregiver, like an aunt, father, grandparent, etc. It’s about the role of “mother,” especially in the first few years of life, whereas the role of “father” (i.e., play, boundaries, discipline) tends to be more of a focus during the early school years. Also, remember that schizoid phenomena was first understood by object relations theory (attachment) because schizoids tend to detach from the sexual and aggressive drives that motivate other personalities, according to Freud^{2 3}. So the detached attachment dynamics are quite a large part of understanding schizoid personalities.

Alternative Path to Schizoid Development?

The main pathways of schizoid development in the literature, which focuses on more severe cases, include one’s mother (primary attachment) as overly neglectful, intrusive, or both². But many schizoids noted they have a great mother, so is there another pathway? Why, yes! Regardless of pathway, there will be a genetic and temperament³ component involving sensitivity. The sensitivity doesn’t have to be emotional, but rather an ability to feel the nuances of life more than others (e.g., sound, light, touch)^{4 2}. Then, there could be a parent-child temperament mismatch, where the sensitive child who desires to move away from others/stimuli has a lovely mother (primary attachment) who moves toward her child in care and nurturance. It’s not a “bad” pattern, just a mismatch that can be handled by both parties in a way that allows for a healthy relationship. There is also a corresponding attachment dynamic where a schizoid child parallels their schizoid parent, having similar genetics, temperament, and attachment dynamics that lead to mirroring each other in parallel. Also, I think there’s a possibility of experiencing a build up of small relational traumas² outside of primary attachments that may contribute to schizoid development. Each person is different and has a different developmental story.

Defensive Non-Reaction to Others

Schizoid personalities often do not react to others as a defense against intrusion, engulfment, and overstimulation^{5 4 2}. When I refer to the schizoid’s fear of the world, it is not because the world is hostile/threatening (paranoid), because others could reject/humiliate them (avoidant), or because people could abandon them (borderline). The schizoid fears impingement, finding the world to be “too much,” often resulting in apathy, or an air of “I don’t wanna,” or “that’s too much effort.” The fear is not necessarily an activating anxiety with increased heart rate, sweating, or racing thoughts, but one of freezing, avoiding, and withdrawal…like the gif of Homer Simpson backing up into the bushes.

It’s Not Fear - It’s Power

There were multiple viewers who commented on how they don’t react to others, highlighting dynamics of power, protection, control, and freedom, in contrast to being fearful of others. I totally agree with that! When a child’s attempts to stick up for themselves, fight back, take up space, etc. were met with negative reactions ranging from push-back to abuse, a child can absolutely build a hard, impenetrable shell that serves as protection, but also as a way to experience freedom, control, and power. There is protective power in controlling what others can see and use against you. If things aren’t weaponed against you, you have more freedom to act and not have to worry about more anger, more intrusion, more walking on eggshells. As one viewer wrote, “to deal with stupid or crazy all around you, the only way to win is not to play.” I love that!!

I also think that some schizoids might have some antisocial vibes about going against society and conformity, finding social expectations and communication stupid, inauthentic, frustrating, and exhausting. Some viewers commented on simply “giving up” on social engagement because it’s not safe, and there’s nothing positive to glean from it. If we pull understanding from the Enneagram, a non-pathology based personality conceptualization, there is a growth pathway between schizoid (Enneagram 5) and antisocial (Enneagram 8) dynamics. The 5 passively withdrawals from the social world in stubborn protest and protection, and the 8 actively moves against the social world/norms. So power/control themes - while not overt in the schizoid - are there inside. I don’t have space to explain it fully, but check it out if you are interested!

Anger in Schizoid

While the literature is consistent with explaining schizoids as being detached from their anger^{5 3}, there are schizoids who are able to feel and express anger and sometimes even tantrum. First, let’s highlight that the severity of personality pathology contributes to the detachment of anger, with more severe schizoids being more severely detached from anger. On the other end of the severity spectrum, healthier schizoids can differ vastly in their experience of anger. Anger is often kept inward and experienced in ph/fantasy², but there are times when trauma dynamics play a part in expressing anger to ensure survival. For example, a turtle can bite if someone tries to intrude into their shell. It’s like: “Go away! I can’t take any more and survive,” a protective anger. Getting in touch with anger can be a great area of growth for schizoids.

Big Five Personality and Schizoid

There was a question about how schizoid and the Big Five personality traits connect. I scanned the research and found that overall, schizoid was associated with low extraversion⁶ and low openness⁷. Some also had them associated with lower agreeableness^{7 8} and higher conscientiousness⁸. Notably, schizotypal was associated with more extraversion⁸ and higher openness⁸.

Raisins

Randomly, I asked schizoid participants if they liked raisins. Weird, right? It was motivated by reading McWilliams’ paper⁴ where she talks about attachment to “things” and relating to the inanimate. It gets deep, but she gave an example where two schizoids found raisins to be problematic, that they are imposters (“They could be flies”) that hide. I, myself, have a strong negative opinion about raisins because they feel intrusive and kind of overwhelming. Like, when I eat a cookie, I dislike the strong gustatory stimulation of a raisin when I’m expecting the sweet, safe taste of a chocolate chip. It makes me recoil. According to the poll, most viewers don’t have a strong opinion about raisins, so this may not be as relevant as I thought it could be, but it was still super interesting! #NerdyWithData

I appreciate all the discussion, input, and questions coming in about schizoid phenomena! Keep it coming, and we’ll try to answer as best we can! If you want to better understand schizoid, therapy can help! If you’re in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, or D.C., check out our private practice, Quest Psychological and Counseling Services for available services. If you’re a provider stuck on a case, we also offer consultations for mental health professionals!

References