Nearly everyone has a family that is significant enough to influence one's psychological and developmental dynamics, and those with SPD are no exception. What makes the case of the schizotypal person unique, though, is that they are often put into a role that they cannot escape from. This is usually the role of the "patient" or "broken person" of the family. The experience of this really has to be felt first-hand in order to really understand what I'm talking about. What is it like, and what does it constitute and ultimately mean for the person?
To be frank, it is basically a segregation from the family, meaning that one is treated and dealt with very differently from the other members of the family. This almost goes without saying. What isn't quite well-known, however, is that the label that is carried by the schizotype completely dominates how the other members of the family think and feel about him or her; they simply cannot think outside of the artificial construct that a diagnosis provides to observers. This can be irritating, but it is especially detrimental when this occurs with a misdiagnosis (such as being mislabeled as being "autistic"); it can completely destroy the person's relationships within the family and can cause identity confusion as well. What is also a sign of this dynamic is how everything is focused on the schizotype; if something happened wrongly, then he/she MUST have done something wrong. The ones who focus never look at themselves in this light, let alone try to fix their own problems. The blame gets put on the person with the label because the label signifies imperfection.
As such, this can cause a lot of grief. Family members of mentally ill patients must take heed in this so that the person does not have to deal with even more unnecessary obstacles in life.
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