Article: Someone with schizotypal personality disorder may express unusual or odd thoughts or excessive social anxiety that tends to be associated with paranoid fears. For example, someone might believe they are being monitored by the government or that grand conspiracies exist in which they have privy information. When you try to provide evidence against their claims, they might rigorously defend their viewpoint, whether they have evidence or not. This person may believe they have special powers or magical abilities, such as mind reading or telepathy. This person may be overly superstitious and go out of their way to avoid superstitious places or events. Outside of having strange ideas or beliefs, people with schizotypal personality disorder may behave in eccentric or odd ways. This person's odd or unusual thoughts may lead to odd or unusual behavior. For example, they might act out their suspicions or paranoia. The person may have an odd or eccentric appearance or social presence. They may be disheveled or make unusual outfit choices. The person may claim to experience unusual bodily experiences, like saying that little beings live inside them or that aliens have implanted something into their body. People with schizotypal personality disorder tend to have elaborate odd thinking and speech. For example, they may speak in a vague or circumstantial way. They may also talk almost exclusively in metaphors or in an overly elaborate manner. Their speech may seem stereotyped or as if it is parroted. While you may not be able to put your finger on it, you may notice this person's speech and way of talking seems odd or a bit off. For example, they might make overly-generalized statements such as, "Everybody knows that aliens live underneath the Earth. The government has been hiding it from us but everybody knows it." Often, people with schizotypal personality disorder have a strange way of showing their feelings. They may not show a range of normal emotions such as happy, sad, complacent, or excited. Or, their expression of feelings may sway heavily in one direction inappropriately, such as being overly upset or preoccupied. Socially, the person may not know how to communicate the way they feel or may be inappropriate in their expressions. They may inappropriately show affection or feelings toward people, animals, and situations. Patients with Schizotypal Personality Disorder tend to have an affect or expression that is unusual, while their affect can be inappropriate or constricted. People with schizotypal personality disorder tend to have significant difficulty with relationships. They may have great difficulty in making and maintaining friendships. Emotional intimacy and relationships may make the person feel incredibly uncomfortable. This person may be unwilling or disinterested in connecting with others in a meaningful way. Someone with this disorder may lack close friends outside of first-degree relatives, due to a lack of socialization. You might consider this person a loner or socially isolated. The person may appear to be intensely socially anxious, yet the anxiety appears to come from paranoia and not from negative judgments about the self.
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Notice unusual preoccupations or excessive social anxiety. Identify odd, eccentric, or peculiar behaviors. Tune into their odd thinking and speech. Look at their expression. Recognize a lack of close friendships.