Why me?

Inner thoughts Add comments

If you have read the article about the causes of SPD, you might remember I promised to dig a little more in details about my case. If you did not read it, I suggest you do it now: http://schizoid-personality.110mb.com/inner-thoughts/we-know-the-effects-but-what-are-the-causes/

On the genetics front:

My dad was definitively an introvert. I clearly remember him enjoying working in is wood shop, all alone (he re-made both apartments we lived in, integrating furniture, closets, putting separations and such). When he was not in his shop, he was reading, and after the death of his parents, he was in their home (40km outside the city) all week-ends, gardening and doing handy work by himself.
I remember him murmuring to himself, stopping when he sensed another presence in the same room. He also had some body language (eyebrow rising, slight shrouding…) completely off topic with what was happening around him (especially around the dinner table), and I know now those were responses to his own train of thoughts since I happen to do the same from time to time ;-)

So introvert he was, for sure, but I miss more details to be able to know if he was “just” introvert or had fully developed a “disorder”. For example, he had always some socialisation with his coworkers (though usually to have some drinks after work). I’ve never seen him trying to dodge a family reunion (like I always do…) in fact we were at my grandparents once a week, rotating between paternal and maternal side for a long time. He was at ease with big reunions like weddings, birthdays, etc… Chatting and joking.

On my mom side I cannot see anything genetically tied to introversion or such. (and it seems I dodged the respiratory issues).

So yes if genetics are a defining factor (still not proven yet), then I have some assets in there.

The part of biology in my SPD:

Hard to define the part of biology (before education comes into play), but if I cross reference my mom’s telling with old pictures and documents for example; I know that I came on time (7 days before due date), was a well weighted baby (3,5kg) from a first streamline pregnancy of a young woman (mom 23, dad 35). I walked pretty soon (12m) and was clean at 18m, age of my first own memory that I can access to (being chased by a bee during summer vacation in an old rented house in the country).

So nothing fancy there, some early achievements but nothing extraordinary either.

The weight of Education:

Before 18m I really can only speculate. Both my parents were working and the maternity leave was 8 weeks, so I was with a nanny during the day with other kids ranging from new born to toddlers. (Actually stayed with that nanny on and off until age 8 for after school and days off)

My mom can appear cold to outsiders, but she never was to me as far as I remember. I had physical and emotional attention (hugs and kisses, bed time stories…) without being over protected (usually left alone to play by myself after dinner and such). I was educated like a desired kid (I know the biggest regret of my mom was not to have another kid). My mom was helping for school and later piano lessons up until grade 7-8. She he is a realistic, critic, down to earth woman, and educated me as such.

Now my dad might have been a bit of a drunk at the end, but not so much in my early years. Still he was one of the most cultural guy I ever met. He had an incredible memory that served him for his studies where he scored really high, and to keep all sorts of information handy (you could not play trivial pursuit with him, not if you wanted to win…) But he was lazy, lost his wood shop and some jobs partially because of that (it also was the 80s crisis). Yet as a role model, he was impressive by his immense general knowledge, his master of wood work, and he was drawing very well.

From age 4 to 11 I spent all summer part in camp (3weeks) and part with my grandfather (7 weeks) on the maternal side, a Jewish Polish immigrant came in Paris after WWI as a kid fleeing communism homogenization with his family. Later enrolling the legion during WWII to escape deportation (where most of his family actually died) and get French citizenship. He spent 3 years in a Nazis war camp (escaped a few days before the end of war). And married my grandmother, issued from a catholic family and whom already had a daughter out of wedlock (we are talking 1940s). Reason I mention his brief biography is that the time spent with him definitively taught me to put things in context, respects others, and having a wide open mind (a Jewish/Catholic single mom wedding in the 40s… that alone says a lot on the man).

With a dad issued from a catholic country side family (he was baptised but never set foot in a church except for others weddings) and my mom being a bastard (no offense, it is the proper word in that context) from a Catholic and Jewish family (she never was baptised nor had a bar mitzvah), you can bet my religious education was simple: “believe what you want, my son”. And has a matter of fact I did a lot of reading in my late teens; Bible, Koran, Torah, Talmud, but also the old Greek anthologies (after all they are the ones at the origin of the three middle-east “modern” holy books) the Iliad and the Odyssey. And I logically concluded there was nothing worse believing in those books (though the Greek ones were by far the most interesting, never fell asleep reading those, can’t say the same about the first testament zzz…zzz…zzz…)

After a certain age it is hard to dissociate behaviour rooted in biology or by education. I can just state that I have clear memories of being shy, not going towards other and more letting them come to me. I have several report cards thru grade 1 to 4 stating my isolation in class (quote: “Jack is not a bad student, but sometimes he’s just not here with us”)

Was environment friendly to me?

I am an only child. I lived all my childhood in apartments near Paris. I have known winter and summer camps extensively (I guess it did not make me anymore social after all ;-) )

Got some frustration early in school about writing (I have learnt to read very soon, and was already copying my books printing detached letters alphabet when teachers back in France were insisting on linked writing…) I was a “small” kid for my age and always the youngest in class due to my date of birth (December 17th) and the fact that classes are meshed on civil year (jan 1st to dec 31st).

My grandfather on the paternal side died when I was 6 along with an uncle (I was not close to them)

My dad was a drinker, something I had associated to the lost of is shop and entry into the “employee” world for a time, but I know now he was drinking way before that (it just got worst after). Nonetheless he was never violent; alcohol had more of an “apathy” effect on him, making him a sleep walking zombie mostly. I suspect that was what he was looking for; an escape from whatever was in his head.

We changed city around my 10th birthday, possibly breaking my only friendship then and having to face new already formed groups of people at school.

Around twelve both my grandmothers died (one closer than the other).

I started traveling frequently at 14 (accompanied with adults at first).

My dad died when I was 18 from a sudden heart attack. Then at 19 my only friend died in a car accident and my loving grandfather’s heart stopped fighting after 3 weeks in intensive care.

Obviously some environmental challenges, especially at the end, when my introversion was already well in place.

Conclusion:

After long years of introversion and a few of soul searching, by my 20th birthday I was “a full grown schizoid”. The rest you’ll discover along other posts, this one was just trying to explain ONE way of getting to SPD.

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