Is it actually impossible for someone to be both autistic and a schizoid? I show many signs of both, meaning I have the ones that are the same and exclusive, and my therapist has thrown both terms to my psychiatrist to see what he thinks, so it most definitely seems like they're considering both, but am I just one or the other if I fit both criteria? There are both autistic and schizophrenic people in my family, so either is a valid possibility.
I don’t know for sure if it’s technically possible to *be* both autistic and schizoid, but I suspect it’s at very least not impossible. I have some signs of both as well, including those that aren’t common between the two. My dad also has mild autisitc symptoms, and both my mother’s and my father’s family lines likely had schizophrenics within 3-4 generations from me (it’s hard to tell for sure though, as psychiatry wasn’t of high quality back then and people were often misdiagnosed).
Yet my autistic symptoms aren’t as intense as schizoid ones, so I generally don’t consider myself autistic (and whether I am or am not, in fact, is up to professionals whom I have no access to at the moment).
Problem is, you still cannot be *diagnosed* with both, afaik. Just because DSM-V (or which one is it now?) does not support it this way. It’s rare enough to be either one, let alone both — so perhaps the possibility of szpd/autism comorbidity wasn’t yet studied well enough to include it into classification. But then again, better ask those who actually have some education on the matter :)
Also while you’re on it, you might actually contribute to the study yourself, maybe? Like, if your therapist and or psychiatrist would suspect you are that rare person with both, maybe it’d be worth it to let them know you’d be willing to take a part in some research. If you are, that is. Maybe thanks to you one of the future DSM will no longer state that szpd and autism are mutually exclusive.
