3 ms·

How does it relate?

b0rsuk 9y ago
Dancing, singing and similar ways of expressing emotions are terrifying for schizotypal people. It can be an early warning. I'm using the opportunity to promote awareness. I've been diagnosed with a very similar disorder. For 30 years I used to think it's perfectly normal to lash out when someone speculates about your romantic relationships, suggests going to a party or dancing. I ended up alone, and not in the "single" sense, but people - often my best friends - gradually stopped contacting me, one by one, for no apparent reason and without saying anything. I thought I just was "shy" or "introverted". But my behaviour qualifies as extreme introversion, and I was just responding with verbal aggression (offense is best defense) because I felt threatened and naked when someone inquired about my emotions. Schozotypal personality disorder can wreck your life, I know because I am in this situation and it takes a lot of effort and self-discipline to recover. One of most common side effects is severe depression. Schizotypal people fear emotional contact, but at the same time they crave it and close relationships and friendships. Gollum, Groke from Moomins, Zampano from "La Strada". It doesn't help people see I don't visibly express emotions and conclude I don't feel them. At best they say I'm stoic, at worst - a psychopath. A personality like that has far-reaching consequences. In Europe, or at least in Poland, it is customary to eat everything clean to show you like it very much and to please your host. In Asia it's the opposite. You're sopposed to leave a token piece of food to show the host has given enough to feed everyone. In both cases, you want to please your host - but you use radically different approach. You can draw opposite conclusions from the same idea. How does it relate to being schizotypal ? If you're very uncomfortable discussing your emotions, family relationships, etc... you don't ask other people about that either, because you assume other people are like you. People judge others by themselves. The result is that people thing you're an egoist because you don't ask others about their emotional well-being. And because you often keep a poker face, your ability to read emotions of others is a bit impaired too.
- ionised 9y ago
  There is a difference bing due to between not enjoying dancing and avoiding dancing due to anxiety or embarrassment. The fact that your friends abandoned you because you didn't want to dance is something else entirely. They weren't really your friends. If they were, this wouldn't have happened. I have friends that both love night clubs and friends that don't. Frequently the groups overlap and spend time together doing things they both enjoy. I can't imagine any of them cutting off contact with the others for such shallow reasons. Point being, just because it was this way for you, doesn't mean it applies to everyone else. There are a multitude of reasons someone may not want to dance, and not all are due to disorders. That's a dangerous way to think.

How does it relate?

Dancing, singing and similar ways of expressing emotions are terrifying for schizotypal people. It can be an early warning. I'm using the opportunity to promote awareness. I've been diagnosed with a very similar disorder. For 30 years I used to think it's perfectly normal to lash out when someone speculates about your romantic relationships, suggests going to a party or dancing. I ended up alone, and not in the "single" sense, but people - often my best friends - gradually stopped contacting me, one by one, for no apparent reason and without saying anything. I thought I just was "shy" or "introverted". But my behaviour qualifies as extreme introversion, and I was just responding with verbal aggression (offense is best defense) because I felt threatened and naked when someone inquired about my emotions. Schozotypal personality disorder can wreck your life, I know because I am in this situation and it takes a lot of effort and self-discipline to recover. One of most common side effects is severe depression. Schizotypal people fear emotional contact, but at the same time they crave it and close relationships and friendships. Gollum, Groke from Moomins, Zampano from "La Strada". It doesn't help people see I don't visibly express emotions and conclude I don't feel them. At best they say I'm stoic, at worst - a psychopath. A personality like that has far-reaching consequences. In Europe, or at least in Poland, it is customary to eat everything clean to show you like it very much and to please your host. In Asia it's the opposite. You're sopposed to leave a token piece of food to show the host has given enough to feed everyone. In both cases, you want to please your host - but you use radically different approach. You can draw opposite conclusions from the same idea. How does it relate to being schizotypal ? If you're very uncomfortable discussing your emotions, family relationships, etc... you don't ask other people about that either, because you assume other people are like you. People judge others by themselves. The result is that people thing you're an egoist because you don't ask others about their emotional well-being. And because you often keep a poker face, your ability to read emotions of others is a bit impaired too.

ionised 9y ago
There is a difference bing due to between not enjoying dancing and avoiding dancing due to anxiety or embarrassment. The fact that your friends abandoned you because you didn't want to dance is something else entirely. They weren't really your friends. If they were, this wouldn't have happened. I have friends that both love night clubs and friends that don't. Frequently the groups overlap and spend time together doing things they both enjoy. I can't imagine any of them cutting off contact with the others for such shallow reasons. Point being, just because it was this way for you, doesn't mean it applies to everyone else. There are a multitude of reasons someone may not want to dance, and not all are due to disorders. That's a dangerous way to think.