An Analysis of the Differences Between the Schizoid and the Paranoid Personality Disorder

At first glance a person suffering from a paranoid personality disorder and a person suffering from a schizoid personality disorder might appear quite similar, perhaps even identical. Both the paranoid and the schizoid may appear aloof, introspective or shy. In addition, both types of patients may avoid social contact and act in ways that appear eccentric to others. While the schizoid shares several outward attributes and behaviors with the paranoiac, however, the psychological differences between the two are substantial.

The classic paranoid personality has become something of a media stereotype over the years. The Hollywood representation of the paranoid personality is one who views everyone with suspicion and harbors fear that everyone is also out to get him. (Dale Gribble of King of the Hill may come instantly to mind.) It has become a stereotype because general paranoia seems to increase with each passing year. The person who is suffering from a genuine paranoid disorder typically is only expressing an exaggerated tendency of human nature; the person who rushed out to buy duct tape and gas masks following the initial adoption of the politics of fear by the White House in the wake of the 9/11 attacks isn't normally considered to be suffering from a personality disorder, he is merely expressing a heightened state of natural societal paranoia. A certain level of paranoia is a natural defense mechanism without which human beings might never have evolved. The media stereotype typically is nothing more than a portrayal of this kind of paranoia taken to an extreme.