Emily Dickinson and Schizotypy

Emily Dickinson probably suffered from schizotypal personality disorder. Not to be confused with schizophrenia, schizotypy suggests a pattern of social withdrawal, especially face-to-face interaction, and behaviors considered eccentric to cultural norms, such as unusual dress. Schizotypy also carries implications for her work. Chief among its characteristics is an unusual use of language. Dickinson's peculiar rhetoric is consistent with patterns particular to schizotypy. While such a diagnosis does not explain her genius and only bluntly acts to reinforce modern scholarship, it does act to coalesce many disparate parts of Dickinson's life and work into a conceptual whole.