Cooperative Learning Activity:Personality Disorders

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine Schizotypal personality disorder from a case study standpoint. There are three cases this paper will examine. Furthermore, inferences and observations will be made in an attempt to gain further insight. In the first case study, a man named himself El-Or (real name George) is on a mission to save the Earth from an impending alien invasion. The second case study is about a woman named R, Dottie who developed symptoms of Schizotypal Personality Disorder after a turbulent childhood. She worked at a church briefly before being admitted to a psychiatric ward. The third case study examines a lifelong case study of Ludwig II, King of Bavaria.

Keywords: Schizotypal Personality Disorder, behavioral eccentricities, ideas of reference, bodily illusion, El-Or, Lucifer, Bavaria, Royal

Curious Cases of Schizotypal Personality Disorder

“The locust days are here and the wise shall behold and not see, hear the deafening and yet not be lifting.” (Vaknin, 2007) This was but one example of a statement made by a man named George during his first therapy session. Schizotypal Personality Disorder is a mental illness characterized by “extreme discomfort in close relationships, very odd patterns of thinking and perceiving, and behavioral eccentricities” (Comer, 2008, p. 379). In the United States, the prevalence of Schizotypal Personality Disorder was 2-4 percent. Males are affected slightly more than females. Although Schizotypal displays symptoms very similar to Schizophrenia, there is a distinct difference between the two. Analyzing case studies to identify distinct traits present in various mental illnesses aids clinicians in their diagnoses and students in their objectiv...

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References

Asarnow, J.R., Asarnow, R.F., Hornstein, N., & Russell, A. (1991). Childhood-onset

schizophrenia: Developmental perspectives on schizophrenic disorder. In E.F. Walker

(Ed.), Schizophrenia: A life-course developmental perspective. San Diego: Academic

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Case Study. Retrieved March 2, 2010, from psyrehab.ed.med.edu:

http://psyrehab.med.sc.edu/Certificate4/case_study.html

Comer, R.J. (2008). Fundamentals of abnormal psychology. New York, NY: Worth Publishers

Förstl, H., Immler, G., Seitz, M., Hacker, R. (2008). Ludwig II, king of bavaria: A royal medical

history. ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, 118, 499-502, doi: 10.1111/j.1600-

0447.2008.01269.x

Vaknin, S. (2007, February 12). The schizotypal patient-A case study. Retrieved March 2, 2010,

from Buzzle website: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/schizotypal-patient-case-study.html

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