Can someone explain me the difference between schizotypal personality disorder and schizophrenia? I thought that this was the same thing. I think that one of my family members has symptoms of schizophrenia, but could it be schizotypal?
Many people believe that schizotypal personality disorder represents mild form of schizophrenia. This disorder is characterized by odd forms of thinking and perceiving. Individuals with this disorder often seek isolation from others. They believe to have extra sensory ability or that unrelated events relate to them in some important way. They engage in eccentric behavior and have difficulty concentrating for long periods of time and their speech is often over elaborate and difficult to follow. The symptoms of schizotypal personality disorder are odd or eccentric mannerisms or appearance, difficult to follow speech patterns, superstitious or preoccupied with paranormal phenomena, feelings of anxiety in social situations, odd beliefs or magical thinking, suspiciousness and paranoia etc. Schizophrenia is characterized by profound disruption in cognition and emotion. It affects the most fundamental human attributes: language, thought, perception, affect, and sense of self. Symptoms are divided into positive and negative because of their impact on diagnosis and treatment. Positive symptoms are those that appear to reflect an excess or distortion of normal functions and negative ones are those that appear to reflect a diminution or loss of normal functions.