Schizoid personality personogenesis – a psychodynamic perspective

Schizoid personality is characterized by a rigid, pervasive pattern of disharmonically structured traits reflected in interpersonal relationships, with adaptive implications. Because the portrayal of the schizoid emphasizes the image of the detached in the roles of life, of a passive observer of the sequence of events, psychodynamics has a considerable influence on the development of personogenesis. This perspective reveals the underpinnings of schizoidia, rooted in early childhood relational experiences. Although the personality disorder is characterized by stability of traits over time and an influential genetic determinism, studies in the specialized literature describe their potential variability, dependent on age and social interactions. This article unravels the enigma of the schizoid’s subjective world by elucidating the contrast between the schizoid’s persistently withdrawn attitude and his mental life, differentiating, to this end, the apparent depth of subjective experiences. In the schizoid’s vision, the world unfolds like a complex, unpredictable existential scenario that generates uncertainty. He will oscillate chaotically between the extremes of a tumultuous inner conflict – the contrasting needs for distance and connection. Descriptive passages relating to psychodynamic approaches – Bowlby’s attachment theory, Klein’s object relations theory – as well as other evolutionary personological and psychopathological perspective will expose descriptive aspects of the complexity of the schizoid microuniverse.