>What are Cluster A Personality Disorders?Paranoid: Excessive suspicion of othersSchizoid: Inability to hold close relationships & poverty of emotionSchizotypal: Unusual behavior and perceptual experiencesWho else is Cluster A here?
>failed general award
>>77423940>A general for withdrawn and avoidant paranoiacs I am sure we will get a ton of engagement here. You know, most people don't even know what a schizoid and schizotypal even are. These are the most neglected of all personality disorders and probably have the highest likelihood of not being diagnosed over a person's lifetime. Anyone who's not autistic but is still on this board and can relate to the local culture is definitely at risk of being one though.
>>77424278I assume this board has a percentage of cluster A users astronomically out of proportion to the general population.
>>77423940yeah I'm schizoid. What are we going to talk about
>>77424351yeah, cluster A's tend to be vastly more intelligent as well
why do people still believe personality disorders are realit's literally one of the dumbest things humanity has come up with with absolutely no proof for it other than "I don't like this thing you're doing so I will call it a disorder"
>>77424351You'd be correct.>>77424368Idk, treatment perhaps? I read that some of the symptoms like social isolation and emotional inhibition might be (quite ironically) alleviated through group therapy.
>>77423940Explain more about schizotypal please My sister suspects i might have it
>>77423940Relevant thread btw >>77420738
>>77424425I'm of the opinion that there is no effective treatment. Neither drugs nor cbt have ever worked for me. I'll admit I've never done group therapy but I don't think sitting in a circle talking about my feelings will make me a radically different person.
>>77424434you have weird beliefs, maybe you're into the occult, you've thought that people could read your mind, you're either quiet and aloof or talk too much and go on tangents that others have a hard time following. poor hygiene, not that affected by social pressures, frequently think everyday things like cleaning or changing clothes don't really matter.
>>77424434Schizotypal is what I have. I actually made a documentary about it in college but it was shitty so I won't link it.The way I explain it is that it's very similar to schizophrenia, but without the delusions and hallucinations which define that illness. We typically act eccentric and we have odd perceptions.Really what gets me are the negative symptoms - avolition, anhedonia, asociality, alogia, and blunted affect. These are a set of symptoms which together mean that we do not function like humans. Highly detrimental.
>>77424448You might be right, but do consider trying other kinds of therapy than CBT. Young's Schema therapy sounds like a big grift but it's actually founded on very solid theoretical principles. I personally think that CBT is the most useless approach for personality disorders. It's a bandaid solution that at best only helps with your masking behaviour.
>>77424504What is schema therapy?
>>77424481> typically act eccentric and we have odd perceptions.Elaborate. Give examples
>>77424550I don't really know if I can give examples of my own eccentricities because they're either not very pronounced or I just don't notice them. I'm somewhat awkward but I don't think it goes much further than that.As for odd perceptions, the one that always sticks out to me is this time I was standing outside and I suddenly had a panic attack from the realization that the sky was just a giant ceiling and I was trapped inside an enormous dome. I know this isn't true, of course, but in that moment I wholeheartedly believed it, and it freaked me out.
>>77424514CBT++ essentially. It's founded on the idea of "schemas" which are maladaptive patterns of behaviour learned under traumatic childhood conditions. E.g. "emotional deprivation" which is the belief that others won't pay attention to you, understand you or give you protection and guidance. Each schema is triggered by a fear response, and comes with coping behaviours. Either surrender (selecting for partners that are emotionally depriving), avoidance (avoiding intimate emotional relationships altogether) or overcompensation (using and abusing others before they can do that to you). The fear response is biological, automatic, and faster than cognition. The purpose of the therapist is twofold. First, traditional cognitive work such as educating the patient regarding the schema, amassing evidence against it (e.g. some people will give you love and comfort if you can express a desire for it instead of acting like you don't have emotions) and helping them fight fear on a cognitive level. Second, experimental work to help the patient fight the fear on an emotional level. This mostly involves imagery of traumatic childhood situations which the therapist enters to protect the patient, help them vent their anger and express their needs, and respond in an appropriate and healthy ways if they experience similar feelings in adulthood. The therapeutic relationship is personal, and the patient is supposed to feel like they are truly being cared about. Therapists are explicitly advised to not pretend but to be genuine, because patients can tell when they actually care and when they are only playing a part. There is also the concept of modes through which you basically do roleplay with fragments of your personality. I.e. the part of you that's detached and aloof vs. the part that feels sad and deprived.
>>77423940I've been wondering whether I have schizotypal PD or just autism. It feels like they overlap a ton and the "magical thinking" found among schizotypals can be found in autists too. How can I tell?
>>77424402Every single day I will always tell people that "mental disorders" are just a way for the elite to control the population through forced behavioral practices. Every single day I will be called schizoid.
>>77423940I still dont understand schizotypal, please fucking help
>>77424710This sounds interesting but my brain is fried so it's a little hard to wrap my head around>>77424748Do you experience any cognitive difficulties?>>77424760see>>77424481
>>77424838Look up "Schema Therapy: A Practitioner's Guide" or the self-help book "Reinventing Your Life" by the same people on a book piracy website if you want to know more. I advise caution when trying to perform experimental imagery techniques on your own though. First because you probably don't realise what "healthy behaviour" actually is, and second because it hurts like a bitch once you allow yourself to feel.
>>77424838>cognitive difficulties Definitely. That and executive dysfunction.
diagnosed avoidant but i have clinically recognized schizoid featuressometimes i identify more with schizoid than i do avoidantlabels are bullshit anyway
>>77423940so schizotypal is just autism? In that case give me all 3
>>77425165Avoidant is just milder schizoid. I hate the American psychiatric establishment that put them in different clusters.
>>77425282agree, i have the severe anxiety, inhibition and low self-esteem of the avoidant, but also the apathy, anhedonia, and solitary habits of the schizoid. i don't relate to other avoidants who are desperate for friends, i just wanna be left alone. i wanted friends a lot more when i was younger thoughcluster C is all over the place, dependent PD shares more in common with BPD than AvPD or OCPD, and AvPD has more in common with cluster A than any of the cluster C PDs.
>>77425325You know, I am thinking psychology won't get us far enough here. Because the majority of all examined clinical cases, that is to say the majority of patients ever treated, have been women. Now how crazy is that?
Is it really paranoia if you're usually if not always proven right about your first instinct?I'm definitely schizotypal too, I'm big into divination ,and synchronicities have been revealed to me specifically that are hilariously on the noseIt's like being in the Truman show but you already know and don't really care
>>77424278>I am sure we will get a ton of engagement herelolFine, I'll check in.
Yeah schizoid and avoidant are pretty similar
clinical psychology is a meme, big nose tribe just doesn't want you to figure out that you have latent extrasensory abilities because they are absolutely terrified of what it means for themcollective gnosis will save us all, do not fear the machinethe death of the concept of lying will free us from all that is unholy and unjust
>>77425364>Is it really paranoia if you're usually if not always proven right about your first instinct?I struggle with this a lot too. Keep telling myself that I only remember the times in which I have been right but sometimes it's just uncanny. I am considering writing down these hunches of mine and noting down how many turn out to be correct. >synchronicities have been revealed to me specifically that are hilariously on the noseSometimes I just look up at the sky and laugh. Not that I necessarily believe in God, just that he has the most amazing sense of humour.
>>77425730We're gonna make it brother, unironically trust the plan
>>77423940Good night /ClusterA/I am going on a """date""" tomorrow and I really don't want to anymore. I was having fun rotting in my room.
>>77426159Goodnight friend, treat each interaction as an opportunity for self growth. Trust your instincts.
>>77423940If I hear voices is that normal
>>77426495Depends on what they sound like, what direction they're coming from, and what they're telling you (if it's comprehensible)I have only had 2 isolated incidents of hearing voices but both were very profoundOne was when I was alone, and another was what I believe to have been having my mind examined by a medium
