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From schizotypy to psychosis: is it a natural continuum?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2024

M. A. Andreo Vidal
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
M. B. Arribas Simón*
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
M. Calvo Valcárcel
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
M. P. Pando Fernández
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
P. Martínez Gimeno
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
M. D. L. Á. Guillén Soto
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
B. Rodríguez Rodríguez
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
N. Navarro Barriga
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
M. Fernández Lozano
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
M. J. Mateos Sexmero
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
C. De Andrés Lobo
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
M. D. C. Vallecillo Adame
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
T. Jiménez Aparicio
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
Ó. Martín Santiago
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
A. Monllor Lazarraga
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
M. Ríos Vaquero
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
L. Rojas Vázquez
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
L. Sobrino Conde
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
A. Apario Parra
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
G. Lorenzo Chapatte
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Schizotypal personality is a condition suffered by 4% of the population. It is defined by presenting interpersonal, behavioral and perceptual features similar to the clinical features of psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, in less intensity and dysfunctionality, but at risk of reaching psychosis.

Objectives

Presentation of a clinical case about a patient with premorbid schizotypal personality traits presenting with an acute psychotic episode.

Methods

Literature review on association between schizotypal personality and psychosis.

Results

A 57-year-old woman with a history of adaptive disorder due to work problems 13 years ago, currently without psychopharmacological treatment, goes to the emergency room brought by the emergency services due to behavioral alteration. She reports that “her husband and son wanted to sexually abuse her”, so she had to run away from home and has been running through the streets of the town without clothes and barefoot.

Her husband relates attitude alterations and extravagant behaviors of years of evolution, such as going on diets of eating only bread for 40 days or talking about exoteric and religious subjects, as believing that the devil got inside her husband through a dental implant. He reports that these behaviors have been accentuated during the last month. She has also created a tarot website, and has even had discussions with several users. She is increasingly suspicious of him, has stopped talking to him and stays in his room all day long, with unmotivated laughter and soliloquies.

It was decided to admit him to Psychiatry and risperidone 4 mg was started. At the beginning, she was suspicious and reticent in the interview. As the days went by, communication improved, she showed a relaxed gesture and distanced herself from the delirious ideation, criticizing the episode.

Conclusions

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in understanding the association between schizotypy and serious mental disorder. Several theories understand schizotypy as a natural continuum of personality that reveals genetic vulnerability and that can lead to psychotic disorder when added to precipitating factors. Other theories define schizotypy as a “latent schizophrenia” where symptoms are contained and expressed in less intensity.

Around 20% evolves to paranoid schizophrenia or other serious mental disorders. It is complex to distinguish between those individuals in whom schizotypy is a prodrome and those in whom it is a stable personality trait. To date, studies applying early psychotherapeutic or pharmacological interventions have had insufficient and contradictory results, and the follow-up and treatment of these individuals could be a stress factor and a stigma. Some studies are looking for reliable markers of evolution to schizophrenia in order to establish adequate protocols for detention, follow-up and treatment.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Type
Abstract
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Psychiatric Association
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