Schizoid Strategy

"Even when we deeply value ourselves, the anxiety built into finitude will tempt us to find our source of security in some strategy rather than a trust in God" (Cooper, pg. 163). Compulsive attachments and aversions generate a strategy, the actual self, and, motivated by pride, an idealized image, conditions of worth, and beliefs and attitudes. See Idols of the Types.

Remember that this is just a type and that you are not a type.

• 1. Isolation
• 2. Self-sufficiency
• 3. Detachment
• 4. Self-control
• 5. Autoeroticism
• 6. Indifference

1. Isolation

Strategy: Isolation; "almost always chooses solitary activities." ¹

Actual self: isolated

Idealized image: Solitary

"Individuals with the Solitary personality style have small need of companionship and are most comfortable alone." ²

Conditions of worth:

• solitariness
• silence
• contemplativeness
• recollection

Beliefs and Attitudes:

• I enjoy doing things more by myself than with other people. ³
• In many situations, I am better off to be left alone.
• My privacy is much more important to me than closeness to people.
• It's better to be alone than to feel "stuck" with other people.
• Life is less complicated without other people.
• It is better for me to keep my distance and maintain a low profile.
• I am a social misfit.

2. Self-sufficiency

Strategy: Self-sufficiency; "lacks close friends or confidants other than first-degree relatives;" neither desires nor enjoys close relationships, including being part of a family." ¹

Actual self: self-sufficient

Idealized image: Independent

"They are self-contained and do not require interaction with others in order to enjoy their experiences or to get on in life." ²

Conditions of worth:

• independence
• detachment
• self-sufficiency
• self-containment
• autonomous competency

Beliefs and Attitudes:

• It is important for me to be free and independent of others. ³
• I can manage things on my own without anybody's help.
• I shouldn't confide in others.
• I can use other people for my own purposes as long as I don't get involved.
• Relationships are messy and interfere with freedom.
• Relationships are problematic.

2. Detachment

Strategy: Detachment; "shows emotional coldness, detachment, or flattened affectivity." ¹

Actual self: detached

Idealized image: Dispassionate

"Solitary men and women are even-tempered, calm, dispassionate, unsentimental, and unflappable." ²

Conditions of worth:

• sangfroid
• even-temperedness
• calmness
• dispassion
• imperturbability
• observation
• concentration
• clarity of vision

Beliefs and Attitudes:

• I am empty inside. ³
• Life is bland and unfulfilling.

4. Self-control

Strategy: Self-control; "takes pleasure in few, if any, activities." ¹

Actual self: self-controlled

Idealized image: Stoic

"They display an apparent indifference to pain and pleasure." ²

Conditions of worth:

• stoicism
• indifference
• self-control
• self-mastery

Beliefs and Attitudes:

• It's best to avoid pleasurable activities. ⁴

5. Autoeroticism

Strategy: Autoeroticism; "has little, if any, interest in having sexual experiences with another person." ¹

Actual self: autoerotic

Idealized image: Continent

"They are not driven by sexual needs. They enjoy sex but will not suffer in its absence." ²

Conditions of worth:

• continence
• sexual composure
• not passionately sexual

Beliefs and Attitudes:

• Intimate relations with other people are not important to me. ³

6. Indifference

Strategy: Indifference; "appears indifferent to the praise or criticism of others." ¹

Actual self: indifferent

Idealized image: Feet on the ground

"They are unswayed by either praise or criticism and can confidently come to terms with their own behavior." ²

Conditions of worth:

• sensibility
• realism
• practicality

Beliefs and Attitudes:

• It doesn't matter what other people think of me. ³
• I am not influenced by others in what I decide to do.
• I set my own standards and goals for myself.
• What other people think doesn't matter to me.

The Resignation Solution

Idols of the Types

1. American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV. 4th ed. Washington: Author.

2. John M. Oldham and Lois B. Morris (1990). The New Personality Self-Portrait: Why You Think, Work, Love, and Act the Way You Do. Rev. ed. New York: Bantam.

3. Aaron T. Beck and Arthur M. Freeman and Associates (1990). Cognitive Therapy of Personality Disorders. New York : Guilford Press.

4. Mine.

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Copyright © 1998-2006 Dave Kelly
ptypes@yahoo.com

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