Schizoid is a term which has been used in a number of confusing ways.
- It has sometimes been used as a descriptive alternative to schizophrenic or psychotic, in reference to a person diagnosed with schizophrenia.
- It has also been used to describe the condition in which some of the features of schizophrenia are present, but where the behaviour etc amounts to eccentricity rather than to a full grown psychosis or clinical condition. In this sense it is close to schizothymia.
Because of the confusion generated the term has been used less in these contexts and has been used more as a shorthand for two conditions:
- Schizoid disorder of childhood or adolescence
- Schizoid personality disorder
See also[]
- Schizoid defence
- Splitting