Schizotypal Personality Disorder 657
even when they spend more time in the setti ng or become more fa miliar with the other
people, because their anxiety tends to be assoc iated with suspiciousness regarding others’
motivations. For example, when attending a dinner party, the individual with schizotypal
personality disorder will not become more rela xed as time goes on, but rather may become
increasingly tense and suspicious.
Schizotypal personality disorder should not be diagnosed if the pattern of behavior oc-
curs exclusively during the course of schizo phrenia, a bipolar or de pressive disorder with
psychotic features, another psychotic disorder, or autism spectrum disorder (Criterion B).
Associated Features Supporting Diagnosis
Individuals with schizotypal personality diso rder often seek treatment for the associated
symptoms of anxiety or depression rather than for the personality disorder features per se.
Particularly in response to stress, individual s with this disorder may experience transient
psychotic episodes (lasting minutes to hours), although they usually are insufficient in du-
ration to warrant an additional diagnosis such  as brief psychotic disorder or schizophreni-
form disorder. In some cases, clinically sig nificant psychotic symptoms may develop that
meet criteria for brief psychotic disorder, sc hizophreniform disorder, delusional disorder,
or schizophrenia. Over half may have a hist ory of at least one ma jor depressive episode.
From 30% to 50% of individuals diagnosed with  this disorder have a concurrent diagnosis
of major depressive disorder when admitted to  a clinical setting. There is considerable co-
occurrence with schizoid, paranoid, avoi dant, and borderline personality disorders.
Prevalence
In community studies of schizotypal personality disorder, reported rates range from 0.6%