Tonye is a 29 year old Graphic designer and he does other jobs on the internet without having to see anyone physically. He lives alone in a self-con apartment and hardly gets any visitors apart from his family members who come once in a while to check up on him. While Tonye was in the university, he hardly went for lectures and when he did he came back to his room immediately after the lecture. He did not really relate well with anyone in school and he cared less about the situation. All he wanted to do was be alone with his computer and everything he needed was around him.

One day his course mate who was a female needed some tutorial and decided to walk up to Tonye because she knew he was one of the bright students in class and asked him if he can take her on that particular course. Tonye agreed to tutor her and told her to come over immediately after class the next day. The tutorial continued for a while and Tonye’s course mate began to develop feelings for him. One day after the tutorial she tried making a pass at Tonye and he was shocked and decided to end the tutorial for that day. After that particular event Tonye decided to ignore his female course mate which left her devastated and felt bad about the whole situation but Tonye did moved on like they never knew each other before and declined anyone who tried to ask him for tutorials after that event.

Tonye never really cared about others opinions, he did what he wanted to even at the detriment of others and other people labeled him as emotionally cold, detached and aloof. Tonye did not have a social life and hated social gatherings. Sometimes he stays in door all day just fantasizing and thinking about things he would love to do. This never bordered Tonye because it was his decision and he preferred to live his life that way.

Tonye’s mother was concerned about his behaviour and attitude so she decided to take him to see a doctor, the doctor referred him to a clinical psychologist who diagnosed that Tonye had a personality disorder called schizoid personality disorder.
Schizoid personality disorder is characterized by social isolation and indifference towards others. Most people describe those who live with this disorder as distant or detached and they tend to avoid social gatherings that may involve interaction with people. People with this disorder find it difficult to express their emotions and do not usually like to form close relations with people even their family.

According to the DSM-V it is described as a pervasive pattern of detachment from social relationships and a restricted range of expression of emotions in interpersonal settings beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts. Such individual;

Has little or no desire for close relationships, including being part of a family
Always chooses solitary activities
Has little or no interest in having sexual relations with another person
Takes pleasure in few or no activities
Lacks close friends or confidants other than first degree relatives
Appears indifferent to the praise or criticism of others
Shows emotional coldness, detachment
It should be noted that these characteristics do not occur with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depressive disorder with psychotic features, another psychotic disorder, autism spectrum disorder and it is not attributable to psychological effects of another medical condition.
The cause of schizoid personality disorder is unknown but it is believed that genetics and environmental factors play a role in its development. This personality disorder can be challenging because people who experience such find it difficult to get treatment and may struggle with psychotherapy because of the difficulty to develop relationships. However, at Diamondmoor Psychological consult and services, we walk the road through with our clients to achieve desired positive changes.