ABSTRACT
Schizoid personality disorder is a member of the “odd cluster” of personality disorders. Coined by Bleuler in 1924, schizoid described the tendency to turn inward and away from the external world, the absence of emotional expressiveness, the pursuit of vague interests, and simultaneous dullness and sensitivity. Despite its long clinical and theoretical tradition, schizoid personality was overly inclusive and poorly differentiated in DSM-I and DSM-II. DSM-III attempted to differentiate ferentiate it by establishing the diagnoses of avoidant personality disorder and schizotypal personality disorder. The three criteria in DSM-III were sufficiently reflective of much of the descriptive literature. DSM-III-R expanded the criteria to seven, which increased its specificity (Kalus et al., 1993).
