How can you tell Aspergers and Schizotypy apart?

Post Reply New Topic

I've heard that people with Schizotypal Personality tend to be paranoid, and if anything I'm usually overly trusting of others, though I've gone through periods of paranoia.

I've definitely gone through times of magical thinking. I alternate between being a Christian, a "hard science" believer, and a believer in "New Age" stuff. I used to think I was an alien contactee and that I had psychic powers, but other times I feel like that's Satanic stuff.

I'm not good at eye contact. I find it intimidating looking others in the eye, I feel like I'm showing them too much about me and learning too much about them for it be to comfortable.

Apparently the difference is that people with Schizotypal personality tend to over-analyze the thoughts and feelings of others, while people with Autism/Aspergers to the contrary don't think that much about what other people are feeling. With me, I've always tried to avoid analyzing others because I've always felt like I'll ultimately be disappointed, and again it just seems too intense to bond with someone that closely.

I don't feel nearly as much need for social interaction as most people, not sure if that's more of a schizotypal or autistic thing.

My therapist summed up Asperger's as "lack of natural social intuition". Is this the issue? Like people saying confusing things and expecting you to know what they really meant because it was "obvious"?
I'm sure Asperger's can co-occur with high schizotypy. Unfortunately, many specialist get confused when they have to deal with more than one condition in one patient.

Schizotypy is a "madness spectrum" construct as far as I can tell, whereas ASD isn't madness at all, so I'd look for signs of delusion and disordered thinking above and beyond what we'd see in the average person.

I used to feel like my ASD or ADHD was madness, until I went on meds. I used to have outbursts that involved hitting myself in the face and head, screaming the C-word and other bad language, kicking doors, spitting, throwing myself on the floor crying, and arguing with my family members. I even used to get the kitchen knife out to cut myself, although I never did it, I think I just did it to emotionally manipulate others that I am going to harm or kill myself if I don't get help or sympathy. If that ain't madness then I don't know what is. I'm so glad I'm on meds now.

^
Yes but I don't know that comes under the schizotypy umbrella. Not knowing the background, it's hard to say if it was an anger management issue or a normal reaction to extreme frustration that was being caused by the environment, or something between.

To my opinion, their mind are opposite poles in their way of functioning

Aspergers
- have difficulties to catch and interpret social cues
- think, behave and live according to their own views and rules
- think their importance in the world is particularly low

Schizo
- catch well and over-interpret social cues
- think, behave and live like chameleons
- think, they are the center of the world and are playing a worldwide role

Both have some kind of innocence of their own and they may sometimes appear similar to NT: misunderstanding the world and isolation

You may also do a genetic test, it will show right away