CONCEPTUAL BOUNDARIES OF SCHIZOIDNESS

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Abstract
The notion of schizoid personality disorder has been derived from the structural similarity of non-psychotic deviations, found in schizophrenic families, to the character changes preceding clinical schizophrenia, and to quiescent states following the florid phases of psychosis. Since the main and possibly the only difference between stabilized morbid schizoid states and actual psychosis appears to be the lack of progression, an interpretation in terms of arrested psychotic process is plausible. It is thus suggested that the morbid schizoid states represent psychoses which came to a standstill at various stages of development. Although schizoidness is often equated with autism, it is unlikely that the non-pathologic characterological trait clusters, diagnostically labeled as schizoid, represent instances of attenuated schizophrenic autism. Moreover, no support can be found for a view that schizoidness is a unitary quality, modifying different personalities into a quantitatively differentiated series of "schizoid" entities. It is impossible to establish the genotypic boundaries of schizophrenia from the clinical examination of schizoid phenomena alone. The study of maturation processes leading to autistic adaptation appears to be the most promising avenue of research which might elucidate the boundaries of schizoidness.