10 Famous People with Schizotypal Personality Disorder (STPD)

Famous People with Schizotypal Personality Disorder:

Schizotypal personality disorder (STPD), also referred to as schizotypal disorder, is a mental disorder characterized by paranoid ideation, severe social anxiety, transient psychosis, thought disorder, derealization, and often unconventional beliefs.

Causes

The cause of STPD is unknown, however, there is an increased incidence among relatives of those with schizotypal personality disorder, schizophrenia, or another personality disorder.

Symptoms

STPD usually includes 5 or more of these signs and symptoms:

  • flat emotions or inappropriate or limited emotional responses;
  • being a loner and lacking close friends outside of the immediate family;
  • paranoid or suspicious thoughts and constant doubts about the loyalty of others;
  • incorrect interpretation of events, like – a feeling that something which is actually inoffensive or harmless has a direct personal meaning;
  • a peculiar style of speech, like – unusual or vague patterns of speaking;
  • unusual beliefs, thinking, or mannerisms;
  • excessive and persistent social anxiety;
  • dressing in peculiar ways, like wearing oddly matched clothes;
  • unusual perceptions, such as having illusions;
  • belief in special powers.

Note – this is a long-lasting disorder, typically lifelong. In contrast to depression, the symptoms tend to be consistently present rather than occurring in episodes.

Treatment

The disorder is treated with a combination of psychotherapy and medication.

Here Is A List Of 10 Famous People with Schizotypal Personality Disorder:

#1 Rod Ferrell

He is an American convicted murderer who was a member of a loose-knit gang of teenagers from Murray, known as the “Vampire Clan.”

Rod was obsessed with vampires and told people that he was a 500-year-old vampire named Vesago.

Ferrell has been diagnosed with mental disorders, including STPD and Asperger Syndrome.

Rod Ferrell has been sentenced to life in prison without parole after originally being sentenced to the death penalty.

#2 Mitchell Rupe

He was a convicted murderer who achieved notoriety when his death sentence was overturned after a judge determined that Mitchell was too obese to hang.

In addition, a psychologist testified that he had given Mitchell Rupe a diagnosis of STPD and a secondary diagnosis of histrionic personality disorder.

#3 Matthew James Harris

He is an Australian serial killer from Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, currently serving 2 sentences of life imprisonment plus 40 years imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Matthew James Harris is also a known heroin user who suffers from avoidant, schizoid and schizotypal personality disorder.

READ MORE: Famous People With Synesthesia

#4 Emily Dickinson

She is regarded as one of America’s greatest poets. Also, Emily is well known for her unusual life of self-imposed social seclusion and for her poignant and compressed verse.

Her personality disorder made her different from other people, however, it didn’t stop her from writing a few poems, which profoundly influenced the direction of 20th-century poetry.

#5 Ludwig II of Bavaria

He was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. Ludwig II is occasionally called Mad King Ludwig, the Swan King, or der Märchenkönig.

Ludwig II has been the subject of medical speculation even during his life. Documents from the Secret Archive of the Bavarian State correspond with contemporary criteria for a schizotypal personality disorder.

#6 Bowe Bergdahl

He is a United States Army soldier who was held captive from June 2009 to May 2014 by the Taliban-aligned Haqqani network in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

A psychiatrist testified that his past factored into his psychiatric disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder and a schizophrenia-like condition.

#7 Vincent Van Gogh

He was a post-impressionist painter whose work is notable for its emotion, beauty, and color.

Although Van Gogh sold only one painting during his lifetime, he is now one of the most popular artists of all time.

Some historians speculate that Van Gogh had the STPD.

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#8 Tsui Po-ko

He was a police constable in the Hong Kong Police Force who was implicated in numerous crimes, including murder and bank robbery.

Criminologists said Tsui Po-ko was a serial murderer who killed to gain a sense of power and excitement. James McNamara, an FBI official, said Tsui Po-ko had displayed 7 out of 10 notable symptoms for STPD.

Tsui Po-ko died when he and another police officer shot each other in a gun battle in a Tsim Sha Tsui subway.

#9 William Morva

He was a Hungarian-American convicted of the two 2006 shooting deaths of hospital security guard Derrick McFarland and Sheriff’s Deputy Cpl. Eric Sutphin in the town of Blacksburg, Virginia.

In 2008, two doctors diagnosed William Charles Morva with schizotypal personality disorder.

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#10 Edward Eugene Harper

He is an American former fugitive who was wanted for sex crimes against children. Edward has been married twice and has 2 children.

On November 29, 2008, Edward Eugene Harper was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. On July 23, 2009, after 15 years on the run, Harper was captured in Wyoming by the FBI.

He was diagnosed with STPD by a behavioral psychologist in Mississippi shortly after his 1994 arrest.

Note

Paranoid personality disorder is a personality disorder in the same category with STPD. However, there are no celebrities or famous people with paranoid personality disorder who admit to having the condition.

READ THIS NEXT: Famous People With Avoidant Personality Disorder

References

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15717986
https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-244X-13-323
http://pnl.bwh.harvard.edu/portfolio-item/schizotypal-personality-disorder-studies

2 thoughts on “10 Famous People with Schizotypal Personality Disorder (STPD)”

  1. I enjoy being alone although I like nice people company, especially those interested in esoteric science. It’s something wrong with that? Some people made comments about me not having friends but people in general do not make me happy and never had. Am I weird or are those people morons for not having any understanding? Also, I do not trust men in general and therefore I don’t care about relationships but I love animals, especially cats and bears. My mother was an abusive psychotic who always thought me to not trust anyone and encouraged me not to have friends.

    Reply
    • Hi, Ursula.

      I see nobody replied to your post. Perhaps, like me, nobody felt qualified to be helpful. I’m just an old guy.

      As another human being, I can say that you don’t sound abnormal to me. You clearly have had some trauma and training that could shape your approach to others. We all have some of that, and we all wonder if we are a little different in one way or…several. 🙂

      It seems that humans have a range of “performance” on a large number of characteristics, and we all just try to get along in this world, hopefully trying to do our best. I think we are all better off living to our own standards and not worrying about what others think. Obviously, we need to be kind to others and be as independent as possible.

      Good luck to you!

      Dale

      Reply

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