People with Schizotypal Personality Disorder can often appear quite crazy. Schizotypals really just have a mild case of schizophrenia. They can function but often not very well, and others think they are weird, odd, strange, crazy or disturbing. They never seek help, in part because they are often quite paranoid. Many are capable of working, especially if they work alone. Some are highly intelligent. They prefer to be alone.
They often do not take care of themselves personally by not showering or shaving or wearing old clothes with holes in them. They can have poor personal hygiene because they might think hygiene is not important.
Many of their relatives have schizophrenia, and they score the same as schizophrenics on tests such as eye movement and eye tracking tests where schizophrenics score abnormally. It appears that whatever causes schizophrenia, possibly a gene, is fully expressed or fully triggered in schizophrenics. Perhaps schizophrenics get a higher genetic loading for the illness.
In Schizotypals, perhaps the gene does not fully express or maybe they get a lower genetic loading for the illness. About 15% of Schizotypals eventually develop Schizophrenia. They can have brief psychotic breaks.
James Holmes, the young man who shot up the Aurora theater, was an excellent case study for Schizotypal PD. If you want to understand this illness, study this man and his life.
