In this episode of The Personality Couch, we (licensed clinical psychologists Doc Bok and Doc Fish) unpack the differences and similarities between schizoid personality disorder and autism spectrum disorder, and whether you can be diagnosed with both. We start by discussing the limitations of current research before investigating the underlying causes of social withdrawal seen in both conditions. We conclude by emphasizing that while they may share observable traits, their origins and implications are fundamentally different.

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Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Schizoid & Autism
00:58 Problems with ASD & SzPD research
04:42 Autistic Thinking Defined
05:26 Autistic Fantasy Defined
05:54 Autism Name Origins
06:25 Autistic Contiguous Position Defined
08:22 Similarities b/w Autism & Schizoid
10:54 Genetics & Etiological Differences
11:40 Schizophrenia’s Genetics
12:37 Autism Genetics
14:50 Can Schizoid and Autism Co-Occur?
17:58 Development of ASD vs SzPD
18:46 Imagination in Schizoid vs ASD
19:08 Late Diagnosing of ASD + Cultural Trends
21:24 Viewer Question: Phantasy of the Schizoid
25:18 Mirror Neurons in ASD vs SzPD
28:05 Our Thoughts About Dual ASD & SzPD Diagnoses
36:05 Summary & Conclusion