Schizothymia: definition, causes, symptoms and treatment

Throughout the history of psychology, attempts have been made to decipher the mind and thought of people through all kinds of methods. Certain currents of psychological research created a series of psychiatric classifications or typologies taking as reference the characteristics or physical attributes shared by a determined number of people.

One of these typologies is the not very well-known schizothymia.. Throughout this article we will talk about what is the meaning of this term, where it is find its origin and the weak points that it has when defining the temperament of a person.

What is schizothymia?

Schizothymia or schizothymic personality is a term, currently in disuse, that was used to refer to people with a withdrawn and distant nature., which do not present any type of psychotic pathology. These people usually live in solitude and with their attention fully focused on their inner world. Likewise, they are people with a tendency or predisposition to manifest symptoms related to the autism.

At an intellectual level, the schizothymic personality is related to originality, idealism, and a tendency to abstract analysis and sometimes obsessive organization.

This type of personality was described by E. Kretschmer in his classification of psychiatric typologies according to physical appearance and temperament. And it would constitute a non-pathological version of schizophrenia in which only negative symptoms appear.

This tendency to introversion and isolation, typical of schizothymia, differs from cyclothymia in which in this second the person experiences a series of fluctuations that take them from this state of introversion or depression to a state of extreme enthusiasm or euphoria.

Schizothymia is characterized by the depth and intensity with which the person lives their more intimate experiences, which are followed by extended periods of subjective reflection and internalization.

In the same way that the person lacks any type of interest in the external reality that encompasses them, they also show great deficits in social skills., which is a problem when starting or maintaining any type of interpersonal relationship.

Another characteristic of schizothymic people is that they express their anger or aggressiveness in a very cold and distant way. As a general rule, the schizotymic will tend to accumulate his little outbursts of anger or his disappointments, venting them only on very few and rare occasions.

This isolation from reality and the need to be focused on your inner world are conditioning factors to the time that the person comes to suffer some type of psychosis, since it will surely manifest itself in the form of schizophrenia.

Therefore, and according to the psychological characteristics described above, schizothymia would constitute a non-pathological version of schizophrenia in which the manifestation of symptomatology predominates negative.

Origin and evolution of schizothymia

As discussed in the previous point, Kretschmer was the one who coined the term schizothymia within his classification of psychiatric pathologies. This classification is based on the idea that there are four types or models of psychiatric personality which depend on the physical appearance of the person, keeping an intrinsic and direct relationship between the body structure and the personality of the subjects.

After observing, examining and measuring a large number of subjects, Kretschmer made a classification of temperament based on the body and morphological structure of people. From this study he drew three basic temperament archetypes.

These were the asthenics or leptosomatics to whom the schizothymic temperament corresponds, the picnics with cyclothymic temperament, and the athletics with viscous or ixothymic temperament.. In addition, he created a fourth category called "dysplastics" in which all those people who cannot be classified in the previous three would be included.

For a better understanding of this classification, the four categories created by Kretschmer are described below.

1. Leptosomal or schizotymic

The morphology of the leptosomic or schizotymic person is characterized by a long and thin constitution. With contracted shoulders and back, thin skeleton and long and narrow trunk. They are also distinguished by a face with pale skin, a generous nose and an angular profile.

As for the temperament, it corresponds to the schizotymic. Which, as described above, stands out for being not very sociable, shy, introspective and reflective, pessimistic and irascible, but in turn is also tenacious, dreamy, idealistic and analytical.

2. Picnic or cyclothymic

According to the German psychiatrist, picnic or cyclothymic people are distinguished by a physical appearance with a broad trunk and short arms and legs., as well as a normal height and rounded figure. In addition, they are susceptible to obesity and have a soft body in which there is an abundance of fat.

A person of the picnic type corresponds to a cyclothymic temperament. People with this temperament are distinguished by being affable, benevolent, affectionate and cheerful. But with sudden outbursts of anger, explosive and angry intermittently. However, they can also be sociable, talkative, practical, and down-to-earth.

3. athletic or slimy

The person with an athletic morphology and viscous temperament has physical features such as a broad back and shoulders. that taper as they approach the waist, large, coarse limbs, robust bones, and a complexion rue.

This type of body constitution is associated with the viscous temperament, which is manifested through passive, emotionally stable behaviors., calm, indifferent, lacking in imagination and sure of their vigor.

4. dysplastic

Finally, this last categorization includes people with insufficient development or disproportionate, with some type of physical anomaly or that cannot be classified in any of the subtypes previous.

After this classification, and due to the criticism that it has received over time, W. h. Sheldon, a professor at Harvard University, created another parallel classification. This classification was also developed based on the physique of the person. However, in addition to the physical complexion, Sheldon also took into account other factors such as viscerotonia or cerebrotonia.

According to Sheldon, the people who manifest the schizotymic temperament proposed by Kerscher correspond to the "ectomorph" subtype created by himself. A person with ectomorphic physical features is distinguished by an emaciated dermis, poor musculature, and brittle bones. As well as long and thin limbs.

Criticism of the term schizothymic

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, the term schizotymic, like the rest of the temperament classification, has not been spared from criticism from the community reason why it has not enjoyed a long life, and being replaced by a meaning with much more support: the dysthymia.

Dysthymia and dysthymic disorder are characterized by a depressed mood. It is considered a chronic disorder in which the person is invaded by a series of melancholic feelings but does not constitute a depression by itself.

• Among the reasons why the term schizothymic has not been integrated into current psychiatric classifications are:
• This is a very reductionist label. You cannot determine the personality or temperament of a person only taking into account their physical complexion
• Kretschmer only describes extreme types, without taking intermediate points into account.
• The physical changes that the person may undergo throughout his life are not taken into account