Take this fascinating test (schizophrenia vs. autism)

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I'm not diagnosed with anything, and these days I'm just considering myself NT, although I've had doubts in the past. For what it's worth, here's my results (I didn't take the poll). Some of the questions were hard to answer, because it depends on the situation.

Disorder | Rating
Paranoid: Low
Schizoid: Very High
Schizotypal: Moderate
Antisocial: Low
Borderline: Low
Histrionic: Low
Narcissistic: Low
Avoidant: High
Dependent: Moderate
Obsessive-Compulsive: Low


I looked up "schizoid" on wikipedia, to remind myself what that is. Well, I feel pretty "normal" these days, but I suppose the description of schizoid does fit me pretty well. I prefer to think of it as "introverted", though. I do enjoy the company of certain individuals at times, like certain family members. I've had phases in my life where I had a friend who I really enjoy being with, but other phases where I have no friends (and no great desire to have any). The word "schizoid" sounds like some kind of scary mental illness, but when you read the description, it's like, "So? What's the problem?"

There was one question that said, "Do others see you as being cold and distant?" I said "yes", because I'm aware that I walk past people who I might otherwise interact with, like the other parents who are picking up their kids from school. But really, who am I to say how others see me? How would I know that? Maybe I should have said "no", but I have no idea.


As far as the male vs. female brain thing, I have no idea. While I agree that male and female brains have differences, I don't feel comfortable putting them into neat little categories. I think we still know too little about the brain.

There are many autistic traits that are sterotypically male: Interested in science, interested in numbers, poor social skills, fascination with objects, obsessive behavior, delayed language development, localized information processing, high prenatal testosterone, don't like fiction, high crime rate, etc

The majority of schizophrenic people I've known have been male. Schizophrenia has a lot in common with Aspergers - that's why it has to be ruled out in a diagnosis. I don't think it's about male brains and female brains at all. Female brains are supposed to be big on empathy, and empathy is something that schizophrenic people supposedly lack. And brain scans have shown similarities between people with schizophrenia and people with autism - both show abnormalities in the cerebellum. And the symptoms of cerebellar damage include behaviours and traits that occur in autism and which occur in schizophrenia.

Do schizophrenics lack empathy? Some might say that they have so much empathy that they ascribe motives and feelings even to inanimate objects and thus are patholgical in an opposite way than autistics (who don't even see motives where they exist). And opposites are often similar. For example, fat people and muscular people are arguabley opposites but still have much in common (both are heavy, both take up a lot of space, both are too big for their clothes etc)

Paronoia isn't empathy. It's based on self and what one imagines and fears for oneself, rather than based on a real awareness of other people and their feelings. Empathy is based on the other person, not yourself.

But talking of 'too much empathy', that is one of the theories of autism now - that people on the spectrum are so sensitive that they take in every emotional nuance and can't process it all, and so freeze. In fact, the research paper about this cited the Wrong Planet forums to support their theory - as apparently many people here who are on the spectrum have said that they do have empathy, but just somehow can't convey it.

I think that "theory of mind" is a better expression for this issue than "empathy".

Schiziophrenics, "paranoids", etc. have a "theory of mind" (i.e.) they think about the thinkings of other people (this" theory" could be wrong, but they have a "theory").

However, I am not much sure of the opposite (that autistics don't have a "theory of mind").

After all, the simple fact that we spend time in this forum show that we have a "theory of mind", no?

Yes, exactly. If I wasn't aware of you having a mind of your own, which can read and understand what I am writing, then I wouldn't post this reply to you.

Disorder | Rating
Paranoid: Low
Schizoid: Moderate
Schizotypal: Very High
Antisocial: Moderate
Borderline: Very High
Histrionic: High
Narcissistic: High
Avoidant: Very High
Dependent: Moderate
Obsessive-Compulsive: Moderate

Omg

I don't think anyone is saying that autistics have NO theory of mind, but rather we'll tend to have less theory of mind, so we'll often fail to consider things from the perspective of others or fail to take the opinions and emotions of others into account when we make decisions. By contrast, schizophrenics might have TOO MUCH theory of mind, so they'll see emotions and motives where none exist and thus have strange delusions like that their dog is trying to send them a message or that their house is haunted and angry at them.

Taking my own experience into account, I tend to focus heavily on my own thoughts. Sometimes it's not easy to consider other people's thoughts, emotions, and motives in a real-time setting when my own thoughts, emotions, and motives have so much weight. It might all come down to the problem with focus and multitasking. It's hard to consider myself and others at the same time as one always tends to crowd out the other.

Everyone's paranoia seems to be low, yet still this test says "Very High" for me. Sigh, it's true though.

Most of them are high actually. Not sure if those ones are true. There is one "Low", however, but I think that it was the most inaccurate one since according to it's description, I seem to fit that.

I knew I was one corrupt person anyway.

Elaborating on your point, it may come down to a problem with shifting perspective and shifting attention, as autistics are said to have problems with executive functioning.

I fantasies quite a lot & I am a very weak S & weak T. Wiki has a chart on symptoms of Schizoid with overt & covert symptoms & I think I have most of the overt symptoms & I think I have almost all of the covert symptoms. I'm positive I have most of what's on that chart

Overt

compliant ~(in work situations or most situations offline not involving my family I am)
noncompetitive
lacking assertiveness
feeling inferior and an outsider in life
withdrawn
aloof
have few close friends
impervious to others' emotions ~( I am very sensitive but I do not understand others emotions or am aware of others emotions when I should be)
afraid of intimacy ~(I do want intimacy rite now but if I wer in a situation; I would become very afraid)
prefer solitary occupational and recreational activities
marginal or eclectically sociable in groups
vulnerable to esoteric movements owing to a strong need to belong ~(I think I could be)
tend to be lazy and indolent
asexual, sometimes celibate
idiosyncratic moral and political beliefs
tendency towards spiritual, mystical and para-psychological interests
absent-minded
engrossed in fantasy
vague and stilted speech ~(sometimes)
alternations between eloquence and inarticulateness


Covert

cynical
inauthentic ~(I am different in different situations when I'm around different people. I'm not sure who I really am sometimes)
depersonalized
alternately feeling empty, robot-like, and full of omnipotent, vengeful fantasies
hidden grandiosity
exquisitely sensitive
deeply curious about others
hungry for love
envious of others' spontaneity
intensely needy of involvement with others
capable of excitement with carefully selected intimates
lack clarity of goals
weak ethnic affiliation
usually capable of steady work
sometimes quite creative and may make unique and original contributions ~(some people think I'm creative at times & I think I may be but I do not know how to express it)
capable of passionate endurance in certain spheres of interest
secret voyeuristic interests
vulnerable to erotomania
tendency towards compulsive perversions
moral unevenness
occasionally strikingly amoral and vulnerable to odd crimes, at other times altruistically self sacrificing
autistic thinking
fluctuations between sharp contact with external reality and hyperreflectiveness about the self ~(I'm not quite sure what hyperreflectiveness about the self means but I think it may fit)
autocentric use of language ~(I don't know what this means)



I didn't know about Schizoids.net. I'll bookmark it & check it out some latter. Are there any kind of resources for em in dating or women looking for relationships I'm pretty much giving up on relationships at this point except I think a Schizoid woman mite would be the best choice for me if I wer to have a relationship. I don't think I can deal with someone who's very emotional because I do not understand their emotions & when people get emotional with me; it causes me to have emotional problems & meltdowns & it's been causing me lots of drama. I'm a very private person offline & when I'm around people offline or chatting with em online; I tend to run out of things to say with em very fast. I think a partner who is NOT overtly emotional & I could spend time around but not necessarily talking or sharing but just being near her would be best. A Vulcan woman would be my 1st choice but this ain't the StarTrek life

Last edited by nick007 on 05 Sep 2010, 7:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Paranoia is quite common for people on the autistic spectrum, because of difficulty reading other people and difficulty with central coherence. I think it increases as we develop self-awareness, because then we're more aware of the various things we can do wrong, and we have negative experiences of people responding negatively to us.

Disappointed. By the title of the thread I thought there would be a test to determine whether you had a more female or male brain. The personality disorder test has shown up here before and I'm not sure how it relates to the autism vs schizophrenia topic. Anyway, I know just by reading the description that I have a more female brain and btw my sister's son has paranoid schizophrenia (maternal link). I also know that I fit the first two diagnostic criteria of autism. I think mind blindness is not an absolute either/or thing.

I think this test is biased on being a yes/no test compared to the typical 4 answer test.
Mine
Paranoid: Very High
Schizoid: Very High
Schizotypal: High
Antisocial: High
Borderline: Moderate
Histrionic: High
Narcissistic: Very High
Avoidant: High
Dependent: High
Obsessive-Compulsive: Moderate

I dont get what these answers mean since they are overly exaggerated compared to the situations i face. I do have to answer yes but its not as strong as the test shows.