I made this account to archive and share things related to the schizophrenia spectrum! I hope to spread awareness and help people learn more about themselves!
To me the schizophrenia spectrum includes all psychotic disorders and cluster A PDS so that is what I mostly want to focus on, but those who commonly experience psychosis because of unrelated things are also welcome!
If there's anything specific you want to find more out about but can't find anything for it yourself feel free to send me an ask and I'll do my best to gather whatever I can find!
The only mod is me, my native language isn't english so I apologise for any grammar mistakes I make. Although I am mostly professionally diagnosed/recognised I support self diagnosis!
I get paranoid and burnt out often so forgive me if I randomly disappear for a while and also don't be afraid to call me out if I ever share inaccurate sources I am only human and might make these types of mistakes!
the minute someone is noticeably psychotic people's social skills fly out the window because they don't see psychotic people as people
"what do I do if I shouldn't call 911?"
well "I'm sorry I'm in a rush" is a pretty good option or "I can't talk right now, sorry" and then move on.
psychotic people, ultimately, are people. they are just as human as you are and the vast vast vast majority of the time they're not interested in hurting you.
when you're approached by a psychotic person ranting about delusions or hallucinations (and possibly speaking with disorganized speech) they are just looking for human connection, that's all. they might not have many people around to talk to and it gets lonely. when someone talks to you about a secret society of mind readers out to kill them they are just trying to connect with people and sometimes process the fear they're experiencing (because a secret society of mind readers out to kill you is rather scary!)
things like mania can also make you very talkative and very social.
someone coming up to you to talk about being the second coming of Jesus isn't trying to hurt you. they just want to talk. if you have time then have a conversation, most of the time you don't even need to say much. you can politely nod and go "wow that's crazy" and "that's so scary" and it might be one of the kindest things someone does for them that day. if you don't have time just say you're in a rush and leave.
Psychosis can mess with critical thinking skills and make completely irrational things seem perfectly logical at times. When a delusion kicks in, it can be very difficult to logic your way out of it.
I periodically think my milk is filled with slugs and larvae, even though I know rationally, that's not the case. Most days, I can work through that by reminding myself that I live with other people who also drink the milk, and if there were bugs in it, someone else would have noticed, so it's more logical that I'm just hallucinating.
However, the worse psychosis gets, the ability to logic like that can become more difficult. I might start thinking things like "they're only pretending to drink the milk to trick me" or something. They're not, and the milk is fine, but... the brain fills in the gaps of the logic with whatever it can to preserve the delusion.
Delusions often sound completely ridiculous on the outside, but when you're in the delusional state, it feels completely rational, often in ways you can't fully explain.
I often come out of delusions and think "how did I think that was real", but⌠well, brains are mean like that, y'know?
It is generally recognized that schizoid withdrawal may be a "defensive retreat" from overwhelm. ADHD increases the potential for a sense of overwhelm. Individuals with ADHD also "may move between overstimulation and withdrawal", which resembles the behaviors of those with schizoid organization.
According to some psychoanalytic theorists, inattention can be another form of avoidance and withdrawal, similar to dissociation. Under this model, ADHD is less neurocognitive and more a result of chronic overstimulation (especially in the attention economy). It is also theorized that this may also be unconscious attempts to "obstruct emotional links" that are too intense to handle.
Some theorists argue that the mind is only capable of paying attention, reflecting, and symbolizing if the individual had the required early relational experiences. As a result, some people may experience inattention because of an inability to process emotions or sustain a coherent sense of self in relation to others.
It is proposed that there's a subgroup of individuals with schizoid personality organization who experience ADHD symptoms as a result of their hypersensitivity. They become easily overwhelmed and disengage from the emotional threat by involuntarily losing attention.
To summarize, under some psychoanalytic models, schizoid personality and ADHD inattention have similar causes and purposes: to withdraw from threatening and overwhelming emotional experiences. As a result, it is proposed that there is a subset of individuals with schizoid personality organization who have ADHD or ADHD-like experiences in overwhelming contexts.
Non-psychoanalytic
People with ADHD are notably less likely than people without ADHD to have schizoid personality disorder.
this is literally the only info i could find bro
Community
What does/might SZPD+ADHD look like: Things people have reported
Struggling to hold a job
Spending a lot of time in your head
Sense of not belonging
Strong rejection sensitivity
May hyperfixate on schizoid fantasies or incorporate hyperfixations into fantasies
May be more covert?
Maybe more energy and ambition
Caring more about praise and criticism than schizoid alone
Rejection sensitivity feeling more impersonal than ADHD alone, but still painful
Preferring online interactions
Personality disorder-inducing trauma may be as a result of showing ADHD traits as a child
References
Picker, S. R. (2026). ADHD and the schizoid experience: Attention, withdrawal, and symbolic collapse in psychoanalytic perspective. Psychoanalytic Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/pap0000594
Adamis, D., Kasianenko, D., Usman, M., Saleem, F., Wrigley, M., Gavin, B., & McNicholas, F. (2023). Prevalence of personality disorders in adults with Attention Deficit hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Journal of Attention Disorders, 27(7), 658â668. https://doi.org/10.1177/10870547231161531 (PDF)
Eguskiza, L. J. I., BellĂłn, J. M., & Mora, M. (2018). Comorbidity of personality disorders and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults. Revista De PsiquiatrĂa Y Salud Mental (English Edition), 11(3), 151â155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rpsmen.2018.05.003
!!! WARNING!!! Lauren Kennedy West, also known as "Living well with/after Schizophrenia" is DANGEROUS. Please do not use watch her videos and/or promote them. More in this post.
BEFORE YOU COMMENT:
Everybody can use my resources, but keep discourse/syscourse out of our comments. Our anti-endo tag exists for personal interaction. Asks are anti-endo, etc, but as I've said, resources are for all.
Disability pride month PSA that schizophrenia and related disorders often starts to present in your mid 20s, so if things have been getting harder, life is less manageable, you feel less and less connected to reality, don't be afraid to get an assessment. It is not life ending, and living as someone with schizophrenia is worthwhile!!! It is a neurodivergence like any other, one that is disabling but doesn't make you less human. Getting early screenings and treatment is shown to give better outcomes for patients!!
A toolkit for primary care providers working with patients who show early signs of a psychotic disorder. This website includes information o
The Psychosis Test is for young people (age 12-35) who feel like their brain is playing tricks on them (seeing, hearing or believing things
person with schizophrenia here adding that Iâve seen so much fear surrounding this diagnosis, people saying it turns your life into a nightmare or a hellscape or removes your personality and turns you into a husk, and I want to say thatâs not true and definitely isnât true if you have good access to medical support. medicated schizophrenics are some of the coolest and most creative people I know who are able to live fulfilling lives outside of the expectations and constrictions of âmainstream societyâ. the way people with autism and adhd are just kind of known for doing their own thing and finding their own happiness applies to people with schizophrenia too (I also know some people who are completely indistinguishable from a neurotypical person to an outside observer, because itâs a spectrum).
my most alarming symptoms started almost right after i graduated high school (age 18). i instantly started to become more withdrawn and reclusive. i had maybe 2 friends and i struggled to socialize with them and anyone else. i started struggling more with insomnia. i started becoming more and more convinced that other people could read my mind. i would be catatonic for sometimes hours.
for many years in my 20s, i became convinced i was a fallen angel punished by god. i have never been a christian in my life. i'm still not one. i also started believing i was God, that I could control the outcome of things. i had an 8 hour long psychotic episode where i was convinced that a character from a video game was in my house trying to kill me. i was and still am unbearably paranoid.
if i hadn't been diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2017, i would have never known why these things were happening to me, and worse, i may have believed some of my more dangerous delusions. i ended up starting antipsychotic medication and its been a huge game changer for me. not every schizophrenic person needs to be on medication, but it changed my life for the better. i'm definitely glad i'm in care for my schizophrenia now
i can actually sleep. i'm not scared shitless every single day. i'm not convinced there things in my house trying to hurt me. if you're dealing with things like this, it's okay to seek help. you're not alone. psychosis is stigmatized but its a real problem many people deal with. you shouldn't have to suffer in silence. you deserve to know if this is what's going on with you, and where to go from there.
my schizophrenia isn't and wasn't a death sentence. my quality of life has improved significantly what i found out was going on, and how to cope with it and ease my symptoms. it's okay to be schizophrenic. that's just how our brains are mapped. we deserve to live happy lives, we are not "doomed" or "lost causes" or "too crazy". we're people
I'm diagnosed as scizoaffective. I have benign hallucinations almost everyday. It started when I went away to college at 17 and I had scary episodes of psychosis. I was treated for depression and anxiety but no one addressed my hallucinations/psychosis until my mid-20s. I'm not currently on anti-psychotics but I have been in the past when my symptoms increase, change, or become scary. Medication is a helpful tool to use when needed but I quite like my benign hallucinations and I'd miss them if they were gone.
Relationship between visual integration, social cognition and symptoms in schizophrenia
Summary: Objective: This study investigates the associations between eye movement patterns, visual contour integration, social cognitive abilities, and symptom severity in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia.
It depends! I'm assuming you're asking about disorganized speech in schizospec conditions, so that's how I will be answering.
Do note that some of these characteristics can also occur in aphasia and neurodevelopmental disabilities! (Example: Word approximations and word exchange often happens in multiple forms of aphasia, echolalia/palilalia often happens in autism, derailment often happens in ADHD, etc.)
And also note that many people experience an occasional "brain loading" moment, and may fumble, swap words, or forget the name of words. It's only when these things happen for longer than a few seconds/minutes, or happen very frequently that they become a cause of suspicion for potential schizospec conditions.
Anyways, lets get to it!
There are multiple forms of disorganized speech, which can exist separately or occur together.
Some examples of disorganized speech include the following:
1- Word Salad: A "random" mashing of words together, that don't really mean anything to the other people listening. Example: "Why, the ice cream shop is splendid, haven't you heard the TV splash in the hallway downtown? Up the clock, sky below this morning!"
2- Word approximations: Using unconventional terms to describe something. For example, calling winter gloves "fuzzy fabric hand protectors" instead of mittens, or calling a portrait "paint strokes in the shape of a person."
3- Word exchange: Using the wrong word instead of the one intended. This could be an "absurd exchange" or "logical exchange." For example, saying "maple" instead of "fridge (ie; "what do we have in the maple?"), or saying "paws" instead of "cat." (ie; "The paws meowed so loud that he woke me up.")
4- Derailment: Jumping from one topic to a seemingly unrelated one. Example: "I love amusement parks. Did you know tomatoes are a fruit?"
5- Paralogism: Conclusions that seem nonsensical/unrelated. Example: "I saw a firefly last night, so I have to eat clam chowder tomorrow."
6- Neologism: Using a newly coined word/phrase and throwing it into conversations with expectation of others to understand it. Example: "This dish uses a lot of hickhaz" (meaning to the person "this dish is very filling", but nobody else was informed of this new phrase, and the person may become confused or frustrated that others aren't aware of the term.)
7- Echolalia: Repeating words/sounds that other people make. Example: Person A says "How are you today?" and person B repeats either the entire phrase, or just part of it ("You today.")
8- Palilalia: Repeating ones own words/sounds. Example: Saying "I am hungry", and then repeating it subconsciously, either fully ("I am hungry! ...I am hungry.") or shortened. (Ie: "I am hungry! ...Am hungry...hungry...")
Echolalia and palilalia in of themselves are not considered disorganized speech, however it (1) sometimes in tandem with previously listed types of disorganized speech, (2) sometimes occurs during catatonic states, and/or (3) sometimes occurs alongside hallucinations/delusions/paranoia.
Other traits of disorganized speech may be losing track of where the conversation was going/forgetting the point of the conversation, unusual pronunciation of words, rapid speech, slow speech, or random pauses.
If youâre lower-income/lower-resourced, you can access mental health care!
1. A lot of therapists offer what is known as a sliding scale, which means that they will work with you to set a price that works for you. There is no set formula for figuring it outâ but theyâll ask you how much you think you can pay and maybe how much you make. You could get up to a 50% discount, maybe even up to a 70% discount, on treatment.Â
2. See if your job has an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which can provide you with short-term mental healthcare, referrals, and financial assistance.
3. Reach out to therapists youâd be interested in seeing and say, âIâm curious if you have any pro bono slots open right now. Iâm really motivated to do the work, I just donât have the money. Is that something youâd be open to?â It might take some trial and error to find someone whose answer is yes!
4. Your house of worship might have options. Pastoral counselingâ AKA getting counseling from a trained minister, rabbi, priest, imam, etc.â is usually free and another thing to look into. Most counselors, if not all, will be members of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, so they will have proper training.Â
5. Look into nearby graduate schools or teaching hospitals, which usually have clinics where trainees see people at a reduced rate. The people training to be psychologists, social workers, and family therapists have to get on-the-job experience. And if youâre worried about seeing a trainee: not only are they getting training, they will also be supervised by someone whoâs licensed.
6. Consider group therapy or support groups, which are cheaper or free. Support groupsâ which are kind of like group therapy, but with an emphasis on education and communityâ are a low-cost or free option. Look into: NAMI, SAMHSA, & 211.
7. Utilize short-term crisis lines and long-term peer counseling services (which are free, from organizations like Project LETS.
8. Most therapists take on a number of clients for free, so donât be afraid to ask if they have pro bono spots open. Every licensed clinician has an ethics code that they adhere to and part of that ethics code says that theyâre supposed to provide some of their services free of charge as a gesture of goodwill.
9. If youâre a student, take advantage of your free campus resourcesâ then ask for a student discount elsewhere when you exhaust those.
10. The Psychology Today Therapist finder is a great resource to find providers who offer a sliding scaleâ just mark it on your search settings.
forgive yourself for the strange things you say, do, the lengths you went to just to isolate yourself or do what you thought was "right", the ways you might've even hurt people during episodes.
you may feel embarrassed, ashamed, guilty. forgive yourself. beating yourself up helps nobody. you're gonna learn to live with it eventually, my lovelies. i promise.
Thereâs a common misunderstanding around schizoid personality disorder (SzPD), one that turns a real psychological condition into something to admire. People talk about it as if it only means being emotionally untouchable or completely self-sufficient, like someone who has moved past the chaos of human connection and found inner peace. It sounds appealing, even powerful.
But that picture is far from reality.
SzPD isnât just about being private or enjoying time alone. Itâs a long-term pattern of emotional disconnection that affects how a person relates to others, and often, how they relate to themselves. This detachment isnât a choice or a strategy to avoid pain. For many, emotional closeness simply doesnât register as something natural or necessary. Itâs not a wall someone puts up, itâs more like a missing part of the wiring.
Traits like introversion or independence can exist without causing harm. They become disorders when they start limiting someoneâs ability to function, grow, or connect. SzPD often does exactly that. The distance from others, the limited emotional expression, the lack of desire for relationships.. these are not temporary or protective. They are part of the baseline experience.
People with SzPD often understand emotions in an intellectual way. You can read the room, recognize what others feel, and maybe even describe your own emotions when necessary. But thereâs often a sense of separation from the experience itself. Social situations arenât upsetting or overstimulating, they just feel pointless. You go through the motions because life requires it, not because it brings anything meaningful.
This kind of detachment comes at a cost. It can flatten everything. Motivation drops, curiosity fades, and most things feel dull or distant. Itâs not always easy to explain why, but many of the things that seem to give others a sense of purpose donât feel real or reachable. Connections are rare, and even when they exist, they often lack depth. Over time, it can feel like youâre drifting, not completely isolated, but not rooted anywhere either.
Some people look at this and say itâs an advantage. They admire what they see as emotional discipline or clarity. But not needing people doesnât mean youâve gained something, it might just mean youâve lost access to something important without realizing it.
For me, living with SzPD doesnât feel like rising above the world. It feels like watching it go by without ever really stepping into it. I can function, I can think clearly, I can handle responsibility if I want to. But thereâs a flatness to the experience. The absence of connection doesnât hurt in an obvious way. It just leaves everything feeling distant and incomplete.
