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Course: Health and medicine > Unit 9
Lesson 9: Psychotic disordersSchizotypal personality disorder
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Want to join the conversation?
- what is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?(7 votes)
- Psychiatrists are medical doctors who have to attend medical school just like any other doctor. They go to medical school first, and then declare their focus in psychiatry where they'll learn more in depth things about the brain, disorders, and medications to treat them , etc. Then they'll have a residency someplace under a working psychiatrist.
Psychologists are just people who study psychology and work in a related field. They have at least a master's degree and have conducted research that in some way furthers the whole area of psychology.
So.. The two main differences is that psychiatrists are MDs who are allowed to prescribe medication, and psychologists are people who study psychology and aren't legally allowed to give medication out to patients.(10 votes)
- Is SPD a relatively recent disorder? It seems like there isn't much known about it compared to, say, depression and bipolar disorder or even its counterpart schizophrenia.(4 votes)
- Most personality disorders are relatively new in that we failed to recognize most of them until recently. We used to think that difference between humans was natural but now we find similarities in the unusual and unfavourable traits in people and we decided to classify them, one way of which is using "disorders." Depression and bi-polar disorder are marked differences that are also much more common, and humans recognized these many many, years ago.(7 votes)
- Since Schizotypal personality disorder (STPD) is one of 10 personality disorders separated into three clusters A, B and C with STPD in cluster A, is it possible to use K-NN classification algorithm in an automated diagnostic tool? I know that computers do not replace doctors.(1 vote)
- Does anyone know of any other psychotic disorders that are similar to STPD(0 votes)
- Are you a psychologist or a psycharicharist?(0 votes)
Video transcript
- [Voiceover] Schizotypal
Personality Disorder, or sometimes shortened to S-T-P-D, is when someone has difficulty forming and keeping relationships with others, and they also have these beliefs
that might appear strange or peculiar, and might
even seem to resemble some features of Schizophrenia. These people will often have unusual ideas or theories about things, making them seem odd
or eccentric to others, and making it even harder to
make connections with others. But, a very important distinction to make from patients with
Schizophrenia and delusions, is that they're willing to consider facts that might be contradictory
to these beliefs and challenge these unusual views. An example of an unusual
view might be something that's unusually superstitious, or maybe they believe in some
sort of magical thinking, like a sixth sense, or telepathy. Socially, though, they'll
often prefer to be alone and get really uncomfortable and anxious in social situations. And, these feelings don't
really improve over time, or with age or familiarity. So, clearly, here, there seem to be some similarities with
Schizophrenia, right? Especially in thinking and beliefs. But, we have to be careful, because STPD is definitely very different
from Schizophrenia. So, let's say that someone has this superstitious belief
with this rabbit's foot, and that they have to have it with them whenever they take a test,
or else they won't do well. If this person also had STPD, they might reconsider
whether they need it or not after taking the test and
doing really well without it. If this person had Schizophrenia, their belief in this is set,
regardless of what happens, and they won't consider
changing their beliefs, even if they did really
well, or better than usual. So, with that said, these
thoughts and peculiar beliefs aren't typically full-fledged
delusions with STPD. And, these patients don't
have hallucinations, either. If they did, they'd likely be considered for a diagnosis of Schizophrenia, instead. And, in general, STPD does
not progress to Schizophrenia. Just like Schizophrenia, though, there aren't any specific
tests that'll tell us whether someone has STPD or not. And, it usually takes a trained
mental health professional, like a psychologist or psychiatrist, to make a proper diagnosis. And, when making a diagnosis,
they'll look for symptoms, like being very uncomfortable
in social situations, and they'll also look for
odd fantasies or beliefs and behavior that don't really
fit with cultural norms. Another symptom that they might look for would be something like having
very little close friends other than your first degree relatives. And with that said, in almost all cases, it's usually these relatives
that notice the disorder and encourage them to
see someone about it, rather than the person
instigating treatment, themselves. If they do instigate treatment, though, it's likely because they're seeking help for some other symptoms,
like depression or anxiety. And, the cause of STPD, like
many personality disorders, is still very much a mystery. But, one clue to scientists is that it seems to be more common
among first degree relatives of patients with STPD, which is also the case
for Schizophrenia, right? And, this adds to a list of similarities between the two disorders, and even suggests some
genetic similarities. But, how they overlap, and
really, how they both develop, is, overall, still very unclear. As to treatment of
STPD, there are no drugs that are specifically made and prescribed to patients with this disorder, although, they might be
prescribed medications if something like a psychotic
episode is experienced, or if they have some sort
of underlying mood disorder, like depression. Usually, instead of medication, the treatment of choice for
STPD is long-term psychotherapy with a therapist that
has experience with STPD. And, these can often target
things like improving their social skills and social behaviors and ways of thinking. Psychotherapy can definitely
be an effective tool that helps improve their quality of life and can seriously reduce symptoms of STPD.