Has anything worked?

Has anything worked to reduce your schizoidness? I have no interest in people, no sexual function no interest in much of anything. I do not feel affection or attraction or emotion. I am thinking of giving up.
Has anyone tried therapy? What would it be for us ?

Down in the dumps.

Hi, I'm in therapy and I take anti-psychotics and anti anxiety meds - I don't know however, how many schizoids/schizotypals are medicated or care for therapy. Most as far as I see are happy with their hermit lifestyle. So don't give up if being a hermit isn't for you...

I'm married with a kids so I have to force myself into situations to learn how to interact with people. Even if it is fake, I am becoming better at it. Emotions are another thing, I still don't have any but I make the effort to try and show something to my kids, I don't want them to grow up like me... empty...

My wife however doesn't see it at home, because it is hard not to revert to my hermit self when I am in my comfort zone.

Medication may not be for all, I suppose it depends on symptoms etc. I am medicated due to psychosis and anxiety but reading about CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) helps - at least it helps force me into situations I would otherwise avoid.

Maybe CBT is something that you can try to see if you can at least learn to have some human contact if you really don't want to be alone? Do you see a shrink/therapist? I think most schizoids don't, but it might be an idea to get some advise on how to learn how to change, or at least improve your social skills.

I've had 3 months of 2 fulltime days a week of observation and therapy. At first i had no clue if it helped but i have a lot more confidence than i had before that. Almost completely lost my anxiety now. I'm pretty certain i will not change how i live because this is what i want for myself, i need no relationship, i don't want to work in a place with many people and i don't want to live very near to other people. These ae the only three things i need in life, and its a real challenge, i can't deny that. This is what i want for me, not because i think i can't do it, but thats the way i want it. I'm focussing on realizing a life with minimal contact but with a number of things i will be doing that don't interfere with my harmony. In that respect i feel realy lucky i'm not in a relationship or a work situation atm and can pretty much do whatever i like in whatever direction i choose. Therapy was a big help to battle my depression by changing how i look at myself, stopping to see myself as a victim and beginning to see myself as someone who has potential. I have seen for the first time how people see me. I am creative, i am intelligent, i am taking excellent care of myself, i am living absolutely debtfree, i am perfectly capable of living as i want. I am in control. What you GET out of therapy (group in my case) is a mirror and tools to re-engage your life without much help. I highly recommend it to anyone, but if you don't open your hands to receive the tools, they will fall to the floor, no matter how much they try to give them to you. In the end, it all comes down to you to make that choice to be helped and to refurnish your life YOURSELF. No one can do it for you.

As for meds, i've been off antidepressants for 4 months now and i don't feel i need them anymore. I don't feel powerless and i'm not going back to the abyss. The cause is gone, not because the meds cured me, but because i changed my MIND. I'm not putting up with it anymore. The meds pulled me through just enough so i could get back on my feet and carry myself. I'm gonna keep walking.

@op
i do not know what your problems are exactly, so i will tell you what i am currently doing and how i am wired. my problems were that i get too intensely bored even with solitary activities, which didn't happen to me for years, but i seem to get bored with that too now. so i started doing more and more(but not too much, once in a good while) things involving other people. doing that and observing them and trying to mimic them, teaches me how to socialize.
i dont have too much trouble in trying to socialize, because i am not anxious about it. i just never cared before. i was doing whatever i want, if i wanted to talk with sm1, i would go and talk with him. if i wanted to end a conversation, i just leave. it had no effect on me. however to deal with boredom, now i more often want to talk with sm1, so we can both participate in an activity.
the problem is that being unsocial for a long time, i do not have good social skills at all and its taking a lot of time to learn them, without directly asking, which would be weird and hinder my efforts. so i have to experiment and play with the social rules.

No, there's no hope for any of us. People can learn to cope with their symptoms to a certain extent, but we'll never be able to live normal, happy lives. I think we're all destined to live extremely dull, grey and cold existences until we either drop dead from natural causes or apply the business end of a blade to our wrists. Sorry (sincerely).

LoneWanderer wrote:No, there's no hope for any of us. People can learn to cope with their symptoms to a certain extent, but we'll never be able to live normal, happy lives. I think we're all destined to live extremely dull, grey and cold existences until we either drop dead from natural causes or apply the business end of a blade to our wrists. Sorry (sincerely).

Thanks man just what I needed.

I've never found anything that works in the long run. I can force a change for a short time, but it leaves me feeling hollow and ends up being counterproductive as I'm pretending to be something I'm not.

The only thing I've been able to do to some extent is to alter my expectations. I realize that I'm trying to build a house where the only tool in my toolbox is a hammer. The house won't be perfect: the frame will be tilted, the walls won't be painted, and the roof will probably leak, but it is MY house, dammit, and that's all that should matter. Do the best you can with what you have to work with, and hopefully that will be enough.

On the bright side, I've heard that symptoms become less extreme as we age. Maybe in twenty years I'll have a hammer AND a screwdriver. Jackpot!

Yeah, clearly the expert you need to consult right?
Just do your thing Mee. You know it helped me, you know it helped others and thats all you need to know.

kohrev wrote:On the bright side, I've heard that symptoms become less extreme as we age. Maybe in twenty years I'll have a hammer AND a screwdriver. Jackpot!

This is the case for mental problems that are result of being overly emotional, apathy, and anhedonia gets worse with age.

LoneWanderer wrote:No, there's no hope for any of us. People can learn to cope with their symptoms to a certain extent, but we'll never be able to live normal, happy lives. I think we're all destined to live extremely dull, grey and cold existences until we either drop dead from natural causes or apply the business end of a blade to our wrists. Sorry (sincerely).

well, if i am to live a gray life, might as well live it in different shades..

you know, 50 shades of gray.. puny.

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that aside, your miserable existence =/= others existence.