Schizotypal Personality Disorder

Question 1

What is a personality disorder?

Answer 1

an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that

• deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual’sculture
• is pervasive and inflexible
• has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood
• is stable over time
• leads to distress or impairment

Question 2

What is the essential feature of schizotypal personality disorder?

Answer 2

a pattern of acute discomfort in close relationships, cognitive or perceptual distortions, and eccentricities of behavior

Question 3

What are the A1 and A2 criteria of schizotypal personality disorder?

Answer 3

A1. ideas of reference (excluding delusions of reference)

A2. odd beliefs or magical thinking that influences behavior and is inconsistent with subcultural norms (including superstitiousness, belief in clairvoyance, telepathy, or “sixth sense;” bizarre fantasies or preoccupations in children and adolescents)

Question 4

What are the A3 and A4 criteria for schizotypal personality disorder?

Answer 4

A3. unusual perceptual experiences, including bodily illusions

A4. odd thinking and speech (including vague, circumstantial, metaphorical, overelaborate, or stereotyped)

Question 5

What are the A5 and A6 criteria for schizotypal personality disorder?

Answer 5

A5. suspicious or paranoid ideation (ex: people at work are trying to undermine me)

A6. inappropriate or constricted affect

Question 6

What are the A7 and A8 criteria for schizotypal personality disorder?

Answer 6

A7. behavior or appearance that is odd, eccentric, or peculiar

A8. lack of close firends or confidants other than first-degree relatives

Question 7

What is the A9 criterion for schizotypal personality disorder?

Answer 7

A9. excessive social anxiety that does not diminish with familiarity and tends to be associated with paranoid fears rather than negative judgment about self

Question 8

How many A criteria must be met to be diagnosed with schizotypal personality disorder?

Answer 8

five or more

Question 9

What is the B criterion for schizotypal personality disorder?

Answer 9

does not occur exclusively during the course of schizophrenia, a mood disorder woth psychotic features, another psychotic disorder, or a pervasive developmental disorder, but may be premorbid to schizophrenia

Question 10

When admitted to a clinical setting, 30-50% of people with schizotypal personality disorder have a concurrent diagnosis of what?

Answer 10

major depressive disorder

Question 11

What other personality disorders co-occur frequently with schizotypal personality disorder?

Answer 11

• schizoid personality disorder
• paranoid personality disorder
• avoidant personality disorder
• borderline personality disorder

Question 12

Do people with schizotypal personality disorder frequently go on to develop schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders?

Answer 12

No, schizotypal personality disorder has a relatively stable course.

Question 13

How can schizotypal personality disorder be distinguished from delusional disorder, schizophrenia, and mood disorder with psychotic features?

Answer 13

Schizotypal personality disorder is not characterized by a period of psychotic symptoms. While schizotypal persoanlity disorder can be an additional diagnosis, the symptoms must have been present before the onset of psychotic symptoms and persist after psychotic symptoms have waned.

Question 14

How can schizotypal personality disorder be differentiated from paranoid or schizoid personality disorders?

Answer 14

Schizotypal personality disorder features cognitive or perceptual distortions and marked eccentricity or oddness.

Question 15

How can schizotypal personality disorder be differentiated from avoidant personality disorder?

Answer 15

In avoidant personality disorder, lack of close relationships results from the fear of rejection, but in schizotypal personality disorder, there is a lack of desire for personal relationships and persistent detachment.

Question 16

How can schizotypal personality disorder be distinguished from narcissistic personality disorder?

Answer 16

In narcissistic personality disorder, suspiciousness, social withdrawal, and alientation are caused by fear of having imperfections or flaws revealed.

Question 17

How can schizotypal personality disorder be differentiated from borderline personality disorder?

Answer 17

Psychotic-like symptoms of borderline personality disorder are more closely related to affective shifts in response to stress and are usually more dissociative. Schizotypal personality disorder psychotic-like symptoms are more enduring, worsen under stress, but are less likely to be invariably associated with pronounced affective symptoms.