Schizoid character structure: the outsider

Do you know someone with a lot of ideas who lives in their own world? That person is likely to have the schizoid character structure. Don’t be alarmed by the names of the structures, they are scientific names that have been maintained since they were created.

There are 5 character structures. In this post, we will talk about the schizoid character structure, the structure of the geniuses. The schizoid character structure named by Wilhelm Reich is also called “the unwanted child”.

Development of the schizoid character structure

Observe this image.

This image shows the timeline of myelination, which begins at the top of the head and follows the spinal column until it reaches the region of the sacrum bone. Following the timeline, we are in the phase of the schizoid character structure, in the white band, meaning that this region is being stimulated and myelinated, and capturing all the sensations and learning registered by the brain. This is the region that leads to the schizoid character structure.

What does myelination mean?

When a baby is born, they are soft and have no control, not even over their neck. This is because it takes some time for myelination to appear there. This means that all the control and sensation part is not yet in the body, so the child moves much more by spasms than by conscious intentions to move.

When the baby is in the mom’s womb, parallel to everything that happens, the world outside already exists, but cannot access them. Because of this lack of access, the baby does not understand that this external world exists. It not only exists but also interferes, both in this development period and in the shape of our body and mind until adulthood.

Thus, at this stage, the baby is already interacting with everything they perceive, and the world they perceive is the womb. As myelination is still in the head, it gives this region all the sensory perceptions of this phase. They feel and perceive the world according to the sensory impressions and stimuli they have, only in the region of the head.

When the baby moves, they interact with the mother’s uterus, the amniotic fluid, the uterine wall, and the placenta. The baby does not understand what mother, father, family, work, or money are… They only know themselves and the limit that the uterus provides.

Changes in the external world – the unwanted child

The uterus is not always the same for this baby. The mother is living her life and going through various situations that cause her to have more or less blood circulation. At times, the uterus becomes more rigid and tense, and at other times, more relaxed, depending on her emotional state and external situations.

The baby inside doesn’t know what’s going on. One moment, the uterus is good, the next it becomes bad. From here, we will begin to understand the pain of the schizoid defense.

All these events are leading to the biological formation and emotional information of this being. Neurons are advancing in extremely accelerated synapses, and the emotional world of this child is also recording the entire process.

For the baby, the world is only their body and the uterus, so every time they move, they feel that they exist. This is conflicting, especially because they have no control. They move and hit the uterine wall, reminding the mother that she is pregnant. This alters her for reasons that are not the baby’s fault. Her emotional state changes, her physiological state changes, and she will have less blood in the uterus, completely unconsciously and very quickly!

What the baby understands is that they moved and the uterus became uncomfortable. They do not imagine that it was because their mother is worried, or because their father just lost his job, mom and dad had a fight or because their grandmother died…

The Schizoid Escape

The remaining path, then, is to move as little as possible. Due to myelination occurring in the brain at this stage, the baby creates a disconnection, as if the body does not matter much, but the head does.

This disconnection is typical of the schizoid.

He creates a mechanism to survive the feeling of rejection from the world that his sensory perceptions have provided him – even when he wasn’t being rejected. What the schizoid registers is only “this world doesn’t want me, because every time I exist, it gets worse. So it’s better if I don’t exist”.

The wound of the schizoid character structure is the rejection pain

He understood that existing will be difficult, so he strives to exist as minimally as possible, and sends all his energy, all the electrical impulses, to the brain, making the body stand still and not exist.

Of course, “not existing” doesn’t make sense. He needs to exist. The way out is to send all his energy, all his life force, to his head, separating the mind from the body. Their energy flows to the head.

At this moment, what is being developed and stimulated is the imagination, creativity, in other words, a mental resource, which is the only place where he can exist at will without his world getting worse.

What is interesting is that this repeats itself throughout life. Someone who has a lot of this structure lives in a disconnected world, “in their own world”. The person sometimes seems to be looking through and not really at you. Their eyes seem somewhat “unfocused”.

Sometimes we feel the schizoid as a disconnected, cold, overly rational person; but the truth is that they need to be like that to survive.

If the schizoid puts all their energy into their head, how do you imagine the biological impact of this on the formation of their body?

That’s what we’re going to understand now.

Physical characteristics of the schizoid character

Now that we have talked about the formation of the schizoid character structure and its main emotional and existential characteristics, we are going to understand the visible physical form, because the virtually invisible physical structure of this nerve branch concentrates especially in the head.

As the schizoid has all the neural pathways more concentrated in the head than in other regions, this will leave some visible marks on their body shape, which allow us to identify them. They have elongated bodies, with more visible and prominent joints, for example. Usually, you see some sharper corners, the body looks somewhat disjointed and not grounded.

The face and head as a whole tend to be larger and disproportionate in relation to the body.

There is no way to illustrate a 100% schizoid person because we are a mixture of several structures. An example of a predominantly schizoid person is Mahatma Gandhi. You can see, for example, the prominent corners, the slimmer body, the larger head and forehead. It’s no wonder that when they make a caricature of Gandhi, they depict him with a huge head and a very thin body.

Now you can understand why schizoids are so thin. They are those people who eat a lot and don’t gain weight. This happens because their energy is in their head, and their body is ignored.

Let’s talk now about each part of the body of a schizoid, starting with the shape of the head.

Schizoid head

The schizoid head tends to be slightly larger and elongated, tall, accompanied by a prominent forehead. Sometimes, looking from the side, we can see that the forehead protrudes a little forward.

Schizoid eyes

The eyes tend to be larger, more prominent. They can also be bulging, the famous dead fish eye. The less he sees the external world, the more he sees and connects with the internal world. These are eyes that don’t really connect. Making eye contact is difficult for schizoids. This comes from an inability to connect fully with others. It seems like they look through you and not at you.

The mouth of the schizoid character structure

The mouth of the schizoid is thin, dull and colorless, with lifeless lips, because they have no need to connect and communicate with the external world. The gaze and lips give the impression that their body has no life or vitality.

The torso

The torso is elongated, thin, and with all its joints well pronounced. We can clearly see the bones of the shoulders and pelvis, for example. The sensation of the schizoid torso is that it doesn’t have much life. Its shoulders also close and project forward.

The hips in the schizoid character structure

The hip is the most difficult part to identify since it doesn’t have much energy. What you find is a lack of energy. This presents itself in the form of an almost non-existent, very small butt. The hip bones are also quite prominent

Legs of the schizoid character structure

The legs of the schizoid are also thin, showing joints. The truth is that it doesn’t make sense to have a muscular body to carry weight! The schizoid only needs to carry the head, that’s more than enough. The focus of energy is the head, They don’t send much information to stimulate muscle growth, and they’re not interested in a strong body.

Due to the lack of muscle, including in the legs, the knee of the schizoid also shows its characteristics. Here is another “shortcut” to find a schizoid character structure in the person’s body shape. The knees tend to lock backward, as they do not exert enough muscular energy to keep the knee at 180 degrees.

The schizoid pattern in life

Like any human being, a person with schizoid pattern needs to have relationships with people, existing and sometimes not wanting to exist, or trying to exist while people prefer that they don’t exist. This stimulates the pain or the gifts of the schizoid character structure, which we will address now.

It is very common for people who study personality structures to ask themselves: how can I be less schizoid? This is not feasible or healthy.

You must understand that you are who you need to be, and that every wound carries a superpowers with it. Sometimes people ask how they can be less schizoid. They actually mean “how can I get rid of this schizoid pain?”

While the schizoid was trying not to exist in the womb, they gained powerful resources: their mind, imagination, and creativity.

Therefore, they have unique tools to create their own worlds and live in another reality, a parallel universe within themselves. When they return to reality, they sometimes even have a shock with it. They think, “Wow, my reality is not as good as I had imagined. In my mind, I can imagine anything.” This can create some anxiety.

This way of living with creativity, alternative ideas, thinking outside the box, brings a huge benefit to their daily life, their profession, and their intimate relationships. They create alternatives and new responses to challenges.

Advantages and disadvantages of the schizoid character structure

Having a predominant schizoid personality can have both positive and negative aspects. It’s important to understand our own strengths and limitations, as well as to respect the structure of others.

If you have a schizoid personality, it’s unrealistic to expect others to have the same objectivity, synthesis power, or ability to compare and make parallels as you do. When it comes to business, relying solely on a schizoid’s imaginative ideas without considering their lack of follow-through can hinder progress. They often procrastinate and avoid execution due to a fear of rejection and discomfort with public speaking. While they may lack emotional dependence on others, they also struggle to achieve alone in the business world.

However, a schizoid’s creativity can flourish when they feel confident and believe in themselves. By setting realistic expectations and acknowledging their contributions, we can help reduce their fear of rejection and support their success.

Schizoids often have a rich inner world but may keep their ideas to themselves due to a fear of rejection. They may stop creating and isolate themselves, leading to insecurity. Encouragement and understanding can help them feel valued and reduce their anxiety.

In summary, recognizing and respecting the strengths and weaknesses of individuals with schizoid structure is crucial. By supporting them in achieving their full potential and providing a safe environment for creativity, we can benefit from their unique contributions.

The retreat of the schizoid character structure

A person with a schizoid character structure experiences deep emotional pain when they do not share their ideas and isolate themselves in their minds, retreating to what can be called the “schizoid’s cave”. In this state, they suffer and are unable to express themselves with the courage, opportunity, or ability to exist as their true selves.

However, when a schizoid is utilizing their abilities, they trust their creations and share them with the world. Even if others do not understand or make changes to their ideas, the schizoid is fine with it.

By existing in this way, the schizoid both benefits the world by sharing their unique perspectives and ideas and benefits themselves by living their own authenticity. But does this mean that the schizoid who accesses their resource does not need their moments of retreat? Actually, they do need them.

Retreating into their “cave” provides a necessary break from the overstimulating external world, allowing them to recharge and come back with a fresh perspective. However, by living in their gifts, the schizoid can move between the two realms, returning to the real world with something new after retreating alone for a while.

Ultimately, each of us has a choice to live with our existential pain or resource. The more we use our gifts, the more we can live authentically and fully express ourselves in the world.

From pain to resource

To stimulate a schizoid, you should stimulate their mind or praise the crazy ideas they have. This way, they feel that the world is not rejecting them. The more you value their ideas and thoughts, the more stimulated they become. Complimenting their physical beauty, on the other hand, doesn’t make much of a difference to them.

If you work with human resources, start observing creative people usually have a lot of the schizoid structure. When people are in the right place, they spend much more time using their abilities and become more productive, thus contributing better to the world.

An issue that many pregnant women bring up is fear the child may feel rejected. If this actually happens, think about how many resources this child has.

We cannot control what happens in the world outside, nor how the child will feel inside. Remember, every pain carries resources and superpowers.

What to expect?

• reason
• thoughts
• out-of-the-box ideas
• creativity
• logical thinking

What not to expect from this person?

The opposite of that. Don’t expect, for example, that they always want to do the same thing in the same way.

Also, don’t expect physical contact from this person. They feel uncomfortable when someone wants to touch, get too close, or hug them all the time.

Many couples only argue because one of them has a predominance of the schizoid character structure. The other partner expects this person to hug and be hugged a lot and still has to enjoy that hug.

This causes conflicts like “It seems like you don’t love me, you’re not jealous, you don’t show me love…”. In reality, the person is trying to say “You don’t show love in the way I want you to”. The schizoid explains what they feel, but doesn’t show it. They are not someone who wears their feelings on their sleeve.

Is acting this way wrong? No, it’s just different. That is just the schizoid way of being.

Next steps

Did you see yourself in this character structure? You can also read about the oral, psychopathic, masochist, and rigid character structures.

We are a mix of five character structures with different intensities. Brazilian researchers created a method to measure the percentage of each structure in individuals. After finding out your combination, you will understand what problems you’ve been facing and how to solve them. You will receive clear instructions on how to manage and soften your character structures to make better decisions.

You will learn how to use your gifts to build a happier and healthier life. Schedule your free discovery session now.