What is eccentricity and when it turns into a mental disorder

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Maybe , a disease hides behind defiant behavior.

What is eccentricity

Eccentricity is strange, defiantly unusual behavior. It can be expressed in deliberately bright clothes that do not correspond to the moment. Or in non-standard habits related to communication with other people. For example, an eccentric person speaks too loudly or mannerly, does it in poems, openly classifies interlocutors according to the types invented by themselves (“you are a gentle cat, and he is a watchdog!”).

In the popular sense, an eccentric person is an extraordinary, outstanding individual. It is no coincidence that such behavior is often associated with talented and even genius people. For example, there are legends about the eccentricity of Salvador Dali. Or Albert Einstein. Or, say, Winston Churchill.

In general, being eccentric, “not like everyone else”, is even fashionable. But there is a limit beyond which whimsical behavior from a way of self-expression turns into an unhealthy phenomenon.

When eccentricity becomes a mental disorder

Eccentric personality disorder is included in the International Classification of Diseases (ICB‑10). It is just described in insufficient detail.

However, there is a whole class of much more studied eccentric disorders – the so-called cluster A. It includes three types of disorders that are distinguished by marked eccentricities in behavior:

• Paranoid.
• Schizoid.
• Schizotypal.

In the first disease, anxiety, suspiciousness, and ill-will are usually manifested, and in the second – isolation, emotional coldness. Demonstrative eccentricity of behavior or appearance is characteristic only of schizotypal disorder.

Experts from the American research organization Mayo Clinic list 10 signs of this disorder. To suspect a personality disorder, five of them are enough:

1. Insolent behavior that goes beyond the usual framework.
2. An unusual appearance. Clothes can be dirty, and its elements can fundamentally not be combined with each other.
3. A peculiar way of talking, which is difficult not to notice during a conversation. For example, the voice may be too high or the person may sing the words.
4. Belief in personal supernatural abilities. For example, a patient sincerely believes that he can read the thoughts of others. Or communicate with the spirits of the dead. Or to predict the future based on the sound of the wind and the movement of the stars.
5. Experienced unusual sensations. A person can tell that he feels the presence of someone who is actually very far away. Or allegedly physically feels the approach of danger.
6. Inability to adequately assess what is happening. Even secondary events can be given great importance.
7. Suspiciousness, constant doubts about the good intentions of others.
8. Excessive and persistent social anxiety. The patient does not accept evaluations from other people, because he believes that they cannot understand him.
9. Inability to establish long-term and trusting relationships with anyone. Friends are usually only among the closest relatives.
10. Inappropriate reactions, coldness in communication. A person may not express emotions at all or react inappropriately to what is happening. For example, laughing when you usually cry.

What are the causes of eccentric personality disorder

Most often, the disorder manifests itself in adolescence or early adulthood. Doctors do not know exactly where it comes from. It is assumed that genetics, individual characteristics of the brain, the environment, and habits learned in childhood play a role.

What to do if you suspect eccentric personality disorder

This mental disorder can be corrected with psychotherapy or medication – for example, antidepressants.

The difficulty is that “eccentrics”, as a rule, do not consider their behavior to require correction and are often not ready to turn to a psychotherapist. In this case, relatives or caring acquaintances are especially important. Their task is to convince you to consult a specialist.

The easiest way looks like this. A person with an eccentric personality disorder regularly experiences disappointment in people, anxiety attacks and even depression. It is at such moments that you should take him by the hand and take him to talk to a psychotherapist. The specialist will be able to establish the disorder based on the conversation and the symptoms that will be described. And then he will recommend therapy options to the person that will help improve the condition.

By the way, one of the elements of psychocorrection is family and friendly support. It is easier for a person with an eccentric disorder to live when he feels that he is loved and appreciated, supported in failures and happy in successes.