“Unconventional beliefs and behavior” is still inappropriate as a symptom of mental illness in my thinking. And a person who believes that brow piercings generate psychic energy may be just very gullible rather than diseased in any way.
I guess that piercings started out as a way not to conform to one’s parents generation, but usually there is some element of conformity to a group. They copy others in the group who have brow piercings, nose piercings, tongue piercings, etc.
If a person believed that a brow piercing held her face to her skull, that would be the kind of thinking that would be symptomatic of disease. It’s delusional – not just unusual.
Note: I was talking about schizotypal PD, not schizophrenia. Schizotypes generally don’t have really wacko beliefs, just mild to moderate “unconventional” ones. A perfectly “normal” holistic herbalist might have a similar score as a schizotype, if one were to look at their MMPI-II score. That’s why diagnoses aren’t based on tests, but by interviewing a patient and looking at them as an entire package. Alone, having “unconventional beliefs and behaviors” will not get you a diagnosis of anything. You must also have a host of other symptoms.
And the gullibility factor isn’t something trivial either, as it suggests someone who does not have a strong reality test. If I can easily convince someone that brow piercings generate psychic energy, especially without providing any evidence of such, then I think it would be wise to look at that person’s psychological profile and see how they rate on the other criteria. Because not only does this person easily subscribe to “unconventional beliefs and behaviors”, but also to magical thinking–another red flag.
For a schizotype, I think the big red flags are communication style (mild incoherence, rambling, pressured speech), fear response to other people (leading to social withdrawal and possibly paranoia), and just general oddness–which is relative to the external culture but not impossible to define. Many schizotypes have disorders of movement that make them stand out from the crowd. That’s not a social construct.
There is some unfairness to the definition of oddness, I agree. Someone who drinks grape Koolaide because they feel spirtually empowered by it is seen as a weirdo. Someone who drinks communion wine for the same reason is seen as absolutely normal. But I guess shrinks have to draw the line somewhere.