Diagnostic Criteria

  1. A pervasive pattern of social and interpersonal deficits marked by acute discomfort with, and reduced capacity for, close relationships as well as by cognitive or perceptual distortions and eccentricities of behavior, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

    1. ideas of reference (excluding delusions of reference)
    2. odd beliefs or magical thinking that influences behavior and is inconsistent with subcultural norms (e.g., superstitiousness, belief in clairvoyance, telepathy, or "sixth sense"; in children and adolescents, bizarre fantasies or preoccupations)
    3. unusual perceptual experiences, including bodily illusions
    4. odd thinking and speech (e.g., vague, circumstantial, metaphorical, overelaborate, or stereotyped)
    5. suspiciousness or paranoid ideation
    6. inappropriate or constricted affect
    7. behavior or appearance that is odd, eccentric, or peculiar
    8. lack of close friends or confidants other than first-degree relatives
    9. excessive social anxiety that does not diminish with familiarity and tends to be associated with paranoid fears rather than negative judgments about self

  2. Does not occur exclusively during the course of Schizophrenia, a Mood Disorder With Psychotic Features, another Psychotic Disorder, or a Pervasive Developmental Disorder.

Note: If criteria are met prior to the onset of Schizophrenia, add "Premorbid," e.g., "Schizotypal Personality Disorder (Premorbid)."


Associated Features


Differential Diagnosis

Delusional Disorder; Schizophrenia; Mood Disorder With Psychotic Features; Autistic Disorder; Asperger's Disorder; Expressive and Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorders; Communication Disorders; Personality Change Due to a General Medical Condition; symptoms that may develop in association with chronic substance use; Paranoid Personality Disorder; Schizoid Personality Disorder; Avoidant Personality Disorder; Narcissistic Personality Disorder; Borderline Personality Disorder; Schizotypal features during adolescence.