Schizotypal disorder: clinical salience of an ignored concept
Poster A28, Thursday, October 20, 11:30 am - 1:00 pm, Le Baron
Andrea Raballo1; 1University of Oslo
Schizotypal disorder (StD) is characterized by a constellation of possible behaviors and traits that constitute a permanent challenge for clinicians, caregivers and help-seekers. This is not only because of the manifold of its presentations (often mimicking other major psychiatric disorders), but also for the tormented history of the concept that, since the beginning, was used to designate mainly non-psychotic forms of schizophrenia. These forms, historically labeled as attenuated, latent or pseudo-neurotic schizophrenias, are still referred to the community mental health services, but systematically unrecognized. Concretely, although StD: 1) is explicitly incorporated in contemporary clinical high risk criteria, 2) is associated with significant distress and functional impairment, and 3) represents a central schizophrenia-spectrum phenotype, it remains largely undetected if not ignored, with the related cascading effect of inappropriate treatment and unmet needs. The current presentation will outline the history of the concept up to its recent inclusion into the CHR criteria, and highlight its clinical topicality.
Topic Area: Diagnosis and Phenomenology