Narcissists, Inverted Narcissists And Schizoids

Narcissists, Inverted Narcissists and Schizoids

Question: Are Narcissists also schizoids?

Answer: This is not a question about dual diagnosis or co-morbidity. The implications of a positive answer run much deeper than a mere listing of traits and behaviours.

This is the definition of the Schizoid Personality Disorder (SPD) in the DSM IV (1994):

A. A pervasive pattern of detachment from social relationships and a restricted range of expression of emotions in interpersonal settings, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by four (or more) of the following:

(1) neither desires nor enjoys close relationships, including being part of a family

(2) almost always chooses solitary activities

(3) has little, if any, interest in having sexual experiences with another person

(4) takes pleasure in few, if any, activities

(5) lacks close friends or confidants other than first degree relatives

(6) appears indifferent to the praise or criticism of others

(7) shows emotional coldness, detachment, or flattened affectivity

B. Does not occur exclusively during the course of schizophrenia, a mood disorder with psychotic features, another psychotic disorder, or a pervasive developmental disorder and is not due to the direct physiological effects of a general medical condition.

In short, as the "Review of General Psychiatry (4th Edition), 1995" puts it:

"The person with schizoid personality disorder sustains a fragile emotional equilibrium ...

Narcissists, Inverted Narcissists And Schizoids

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