Has your ASD ended up making you schizoid?

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I think I'm coming to the conclusion that my previously unrecognised ASD-related problems ended up making me schizoid. Just to give a few examples off the top of my head: I always tended (and tend) to lock myself away to focus in on my narrow obsessions, so that takes me away from other people, which is schizoid. I am really bad at small talk and group situations, so I have tended to avoid meeting new people or socialising, because I fail when I do these things, so I end up by myself, which is schizoid. I also find it difficult seeing the big picture and organising a life for myself, but just focus in on something restricted by myself, because that is what I feel comfortable with. So again, I just end up by myself, which is schizoid. I don't like spontaneity and change, so it would be no fun at all if people were to phone me up and invite me to do things. So I just end up staying by myself, which is schizoid. Etc etc etc. In most social situations it is too loud, too unfocussed, too spontaneous, too complicated, too unpredictable, too other-directed, too fast, too many people etc, so I just stay by myself, which is schizoid. The list could go on. So I think that having these ASD traits lead naturally to schizoid behaviour, or at least have done so in my case.

What about you? Do your ASD traits make you behave in a schizoid way?

It sounds to me that all of these "schizoid" behaviors are really just typical Asperger's traits. Just more severe. Being by yourself, in itself, doesn't make you schizoid. But everything you listed are full-on aspie traits, which end up making many of us prefer our own company to others. I'm not trying to blatantly shoot down your conclusion, since you know yourself better than anyone. However, I'm speaking from experience. My wife is schizoid, and she's nothing like I am. Also, she hates being alone.

"Schizoid" is a very nasty, outdated label to describe a schizophrenia sufferer or schizophrenia-like symptoms. I used to live in a home where nearly everyone else had schizophrenia and believe me, it turns a person's life into a living nightmare. I was also (wrongly) diagnosed with schizophrenia form disorder and lived with that label for years before being diagnosed with Asperger's. My behavior may somewhat resemble schizophrenia because I talk to myself a lot, especially when I'm alone, which is most of the time and there's no one to talk to and even if there was they probably wouldn't want to listen to me describe my latest experiences on YouTube or most recent discoveries on Wiki. I don't just talk to myself, either. I tell myself stories and jokes and even "share" information as if there was really another person listening. Maybe I'm just rehearsing for real-life socializing.

Since you know a bit about schizophrenia, I guess I should clarify a bit. My wife doesn't have full-blown schizophrenia. What she has is schizoid personality disorder. So it's not quite as extreme as schizophrenia, but it can be pretty bad at times. Still nothing like AS, although the two are genetically related. Guess our kids are screwed.

I'm not overly familiar with schizoid personality disorder, but my understanding was that people with SPD dislike being around other people, it seems to be the defining symptom. If your wife hates being alone, in what way is she schizoid? I'm not trying to be confrontational or anything, just trying to understand the disorder better.

I apologize, I meant to say "schizotypal," not "schizoid." There is a difference between these two. My wife can be very social, mostly when she's drinking. Otherwise (and this is the confusing part) she hates being alone, but she prefers that people leave her alone. She is really only comfortable with the select few people she is close to. That is, unless she's drinking. Then she's a social butterfly. She does have hallucinations and hears voices at times, usually when she's stressed. She deals with a lot of anxiety and depression, and went through a time when she was agoraphobic. Anyway, here's a little blurb about the disorder.
Schizotypal Personality Disorder

As I understand it, schizoid people like being alone a lot and don't like engaging in activities with others or having friends. Maybe I was misusing the term, because there are supposed to be other features to it, too, apart from just being a loner. I suppose it's obvious that ASD often results in people ending up as loners, even if they don't want to at first. Schizoid, schizotypal and schizophrenia are three completely different things, especially schizoid, which seems best summed up by the word "detachment". I started this thread because I keep self-diagnosing as schizoid because I avoid social interaction.

(Today I was given a second AS diagnosis, because I had doubted the first, in October, after a woman I was in email contact with called it in question because the person doing the diagnosis wasn't as qualified as the person who did hers . My therapist said "What good will it do you, because you'll only start doubting it again as soon as someone calls it into question? You need to move on and decide how to deal with it.")

Anyway, back to schizoid personality disorder, I still don't know if you can develop it as a result of ASD-related problems in childhood and youth.

Yes. i was officially diagnosed with Schizoid Personality as my primary disorder when I was tested for Aspergers. I'm pretty sure I have Aspergers thou but most all the docs, psychs, & other "experts" I seen saw my Schizoid traits rite away & didn't see deep enough to notice my AS. My Schizoid personality developed gradually from lots of problems I had that were related to my AS & other issues; being bullied, misunderstanding others, others not understanding me, having problems getting along with others ect caused me to withdrawn inside myself wanting everyone & the world to leave me the hell alone. It also contributed to me getting depressed & kind of shutting down from everything around me

I guess when I think about schizoid and all the other "schizo"-related terms I automatically think "detached" "non-social" "paranoid" "in their own world" "nonsensical speech" "out of touch" "heavily medicated" "restless" "lost at sea". I guess some of those traits are also ASD-related. With your original posting of your traits I see something more akin to Avoidant Personality Disorder than schizoid and the reason I mention that is I'm not sure schizoid people actually make an attempt to assimilate themselves or are even aware of joining a group. An AvPD is aware of a group he'd like to join, or a person he'd like to meet, but just lack the bearing or nerve to get him from point A to point B. Either way, the medication and therapies for both disorders is probably the same (Amitryptline, Lithium, etc). Someone will come along and disagree with me. That's okay. I was just speaking as someone who does have AS and AvPD and identifies with your symptoms.

ASD gave me chronic psychosis

in fact i am starting to think, i was misdiagnosed with Asperger's, that I really have schizo-affective disease,, which represented AS "asperger's" in developmental delay/negative symptoms.... dormant until my teens->20's.