Jeff and STPD

Jeff Dahmer, was according to the Psych Reports, diagnosed with Schizotypal Personality Disorder.

A little background info:
This type of personality disorder falls under the cluster A of personality disorders. The STPD diagnostic criteria for DSM-5 consist of:

• ideas of reference
• odd beliefs of magical thinking
• unusual perceptual experiences and bodily illusions
• odd thinking and speech
• suspiciousness or paranoid ideation
• inappropriate or constricted affect
• behavior or appearance that is odd, eccentric or peculiar
• lack of close friends of confidants, other than first degree relatives
• excessive social anxiety that doesn’t diminish with familiarity and tends to be associated with paranoid beliefs.

Five of nine criteria are required for a diagnosis of STPD.

STPD remained significantly associated with bipolar I and II disorder, PTSD, BPD and NPD. Twin studies have provided evidence that STPD is determined by both familial-genetic and unique environmental factors. A number of forms of psychological trauma and chronic stress have been associated with STPD. Over half of patients with STPD have had > 1 episode of major depressive disorder and 30 to 50% of them have major depressive disorder when schizotypal personality disorder is diagnosed. These patients often also have a substance use disorder. 

People with STPD often come across as aloof, flat or emotionally distant, and are preoccupied with fantasy and daydreaming. People with this disorder may ignore ordinary social conventions (for example, not make eye contact), and because they do not understand usual social cues, they may interact with others inappropriately or stiffly. They are very uncomfortable relating to people. They interact with people if they have to but prefer not to because they feel like they are different and do not belong. However, they may say their lack of relationships makes them unhappy. Signs and symptoms of schizotypal personality disorder, such as increased interest in solitary activities or a high level of social anxiety, may be seen in the teen years. The child may be an underperformer in school or appear socially out of step with peers, which may result in teasing or bullying.

Now let’s look at Jeff and some of his behavior that could be related to his STPD:

• If we look at his childhood there are obvious signs he kept to himself. He didn’t have many friends, he didn’t interact a lot with other kids at a young age. There were two incidents that are mentioned in The Shrine that could have “started” his STPD. The incident with the tadpoles, where the teacher gave Jeff’s present to her, to another kid he thought of as a friend. He killed the tadpoles with motor oil when he found out. This could have been a trigger for him to be suspicious of people who are kind to him. The other incident is with a choking game he played with the other kids. When it was Jeff’s turn to choke a kid, the kid ran to the teacher to tattle on him. Another betrayal in his early life that could have started his paranoid and suspicious beliefs.
• In his teens we can see some of the behavior that is odd and peculiar. The things he did that were seen as Doing a Dahmer. I know this was also a way to hide his true self, his dark thoughts he was already having but it could also be related to early signs of STPD if you think about it.
• He obviously never had any close relationships besides his parents and grandmother. Not that he was particularly close to his parents but yeah.
• His paranoid beliefs also can be seen in his alarm system he bought but never fully installed. He might have thought just to look of it might scare people away if they wanted to break in. 
• Examples of his odd thinking of beliefs can be seen in him thinking the yellow eye contacts could give him the same power as The Emperor in Star Wars. Jeff seemed to be obsessed with obtaining a certain power or control over people. 
• His idea of creating a Shrine. The Shrine he was building was for remembering the physical appearance of his victims but also another way for him to get some sort of power. 
• Jeff mentioned often it was like he was possessed by an evil force that gave him these compulsions he could not get rid of. He truly thought he was Evil.
• Another odd or magical belief could be him thinking that wearing a victim’s face or eating their body parts would make them one with him. That they would continue to live on inside of him 
• Some people mistake Jeff for being a psychopath because of his lack of expressing or showing emotion. But this is also a typical sign of STPD. Dr. Norman Goldfrab mentioned: His voice was devoid of emotional shading of life and that Jeff was “suspicious of the motives of others, a classic schizoid trait.” Dr Evelyn Rosen’s has said that Jeff had a “schizoid personality disorder with paranoid features.” And added a dire prognostication: “Jeff is not psychotic, but not much is needed to push him and alcohol serves this purpose.”
• Schizoid personality disorder is also a personality disorder often mentioned in The Shrine but Jeff was never officially diagnosed with it according to the Pscyh Reports. The symptoms between STPD and Schizoid Personality Disorder do show similarities
• While people with schizotypal personality disorder may experience brief psychotic episodes with delusions or hallucinations, the episodes are not as frequent, prolonged or intense as in schizophrenia. It is possible, if we believe Tracy Edwards story, that Jeff might have experienced at that time a brief psychotic episode. 
• Jeff’s crimes were based on his bizarre fantasies. His whole life was focused on chasing the ultimate fantasy he had of the perfect orgasm and control.

A study has shown that people with Stpd have more chances of having olfactory identification impairment which can explain how it was possible that Jeff lived in a small apartment with rotting bodies and cutting open to viscera without getting sick of the smell himself.

These are the first few signs of his STPD that I came up with. I am open to feedback and things you might know about him that could relate to his STPD. Just to be clear, I am not an expert on personality disorders. During my study I had only one short term on mental health conditions, so my own knowledge is limited. The things I mentioned with Jeff’s behavior related to STPD is how I see it. I just found it weird how little this disorder is mentioned in Jeff’s case.