Schizoid Personality Disorder

First and foremost, Schizoid Personality Disorder, while it shares common causation and mechanical characteristics, is distinct from Schizophrenia and Schizotypical Personality Disorder. In particular, it lacks the delusions, hallucinations, and paranoia that typify these other conditions.  It is -not- dangerous.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Schizoid Personality Disorder is characterized by the following traits. To be diagnosed with this condition, a patient must have four of the following:

1. Emotional coldness, detachment or reduced affect.
2. Limited capacity to express either positive or negative emotions towards others.
3. Consistent preference for solitary activities.
4. Very few, if any, close friends or relationships, and a lack of desire for such.
5. Indifference to either praise or criticism.
6. Taking pleasure in few, if any, activities.
7. Indifference to social norms and conventions.
8. Preoccupation with fantasy and introspection.
9. Lack of desire for sexual experiences with another person.

 In my interactions with Henry, numbers 2, 3, and 8 were almost immediately apparent.  Even in my email and message-board conversations with Henry, it was clear he had little interest in interpersonal exchange.  Where most of the message-board was alive with discussions about new and interesting acquisitions, Henry's visits were short and to the point, brokering a book trade and signing off.

It became clear to me that the fictions he imagined and populated with these books were far more valuable to him. Indeed, I would find that his books were littered with marginalia.  As our trade forum was routinely fond of lamenting, printed books seemed to be on the way out, replaced by a Kindle era.  Kindle seemed an ironic name for the e-reader du jour, as it may be turning our books into kindling.  With the passage of printed books from vogue, marginalia would disappear as well, a practice Henry engaged in with passion.

I now own a few of Henry's books (including my Hitchhiker's Guide) which include his marginalia in them.  The conversations he has with these texts are fascinating to the point that I've suggested he publish his own series of Annotated Works in the vein of Asimov's.

Now that I have had an opportunity to know Henry for a good while, I believe he rates a 9-out-of-9 rating in the DSM for Schizoid Personality Disorder.  In later entries in this blog, I would like to focus on a few of these symptoms, the ones that may be particularly difficult for friends of those with SPD to deal with.