I put a trigger warning on this because I guess it could dredge up some bad memories or start some rapid cyclical downward spiraling (redundant?). But then, is the archetypal schizoid able to be "triggered"...? A different subject. Kinda. Annnnyway...

Obviously, we are diagnosed with SPD. However, this obviously, too, doesn't mean we're all completely alike. There are pieces of it that apply to some and not to others and so on.

I still am not as educated about it as I'd like to be (kind of difficult given what seems to be lack of sources/research...), so I'm gonna start by saying that the phraseology I'm going to use and refer to will come from good ol' Wikipedia for the sake of a consistent/universal reference.

When I think about traits and the subsequent differentiation between dx and actual personality, my natural thought process grasps for what appears to be close to the profiling outlined by Dr. Akhtar.

Akhtar's profile outlines what "classic" schizoid behavior generally looks like. However, there is also the "secret schizoid", where the classic traits are hidden by the individual for presentation in the public world to keep in mind.

There are also "Millon's subtypes", of which there are four, and one with SPD may, apparently, be/have one or all of them.

With these things in mind and/or whatever else suits your fancy...

• When you think of yourself, aside from SPD, what stands out? The "three words to describe yourself" type thing.
• Can you remember a time before onset, or do you think it's always been there?
• What do others see? What have they observed? What do they like?
• Which pieces of SPD or your respective individual personality have given you the biggest hardships/problems/stressors socially or otherwise? Which have given advantages?
• What pieces of you contradict your SPD dx?
• What are your favorite parts? Your least favorite?
• What do you like to do? If you work, what is your job?
• Do you care that you're different? Do you wish you didn't have SPD?
• Growing up (or presently), did you feel a need to be individual, or a greater desire for conformity? Or did you not care about one way or another?
• What do you want to improve?
• What makes you want to table-flip?

I'm just curious about how much we are or aren't different from each other with a disorder that presents as very black and white for people that tend to see in shades of grey.