What Are Paranoid Delusions?
To be paranoid is to have great fear or anxiety about something. Having delusions means believing something that is not true and is possibly far-fetched. Taken together, paranoid delusions create fearfulness or anxiety, amplified by feeling/believing things that are false. It’s often thought paranoid delusions are only present in illnesses like schizophrenia, but other illnesses may feature them. The most common illnesses associated with paranoid delusions are schizophrenia, paranoid personality disorder, (delusional disorder), and bipolar I, which may show such symptoms during mood swings.
A few examples of paranoia include when people believe they are secretly or obviously someone extremely important (made-up or historical), that others including those otherworldly are attempting to harm them, that they have a special relationship with someone, particularly someone famous, or that they believe a specific person is hurting them by behaviors like infidelity. These delusional stances stand quite opposed to repeated demonstration of evidence to the contrary. Sometimes, within a person’s world there is a remote possibility the beliefs are true, but they still are false.
Paranoid delusions can lead people to act in a number of self-damaging ways. A belief of being able to fly could very well lead people to try this out, and paranoid jealousy could destroy a relationship. Other characteristics may be present with delusions, making life much more difficult. Depending on other conditions present, a person might hear voices, hallucinate, have additional phobias, or be quite unable to function at most times. Though often mocked because beliefs can seem so outlandish, paranoia is truly no joke, and can destroy chance for living normally while it exists.
How paranoid delusions get treated may depend on the underlying condition. In many instances, medicines called anti-psychotics are used to help tame this symptom and other symptoms like hallucinations, which may or may not be present. Mood stabilizers are used in the treatment of bipolar disorder to prevent cycling moods that might produce paranoid states.
Additional support is necessary for people through counseling. Though a biological component may exist for paranoid delusions, they may also spring from traumatic experiences, that when processed, help to produce more normalized thinking. No single treatment or single medicine is appropriate for all cases and significant work in therapy requires the cooperation of the person suffering from these delusions to address stabilization.
People suffering from what they believe to be paranoid delusions may want to begin by speaking to a psychiatrist, who is able to help with medication and can provide initial or ongoing therapy. Should a delusion be so severe that it suggests a person must die or commit self-harm, they should immediately contact emergency services or emergency psychiatric services in their community to get the help they need. Of course, the nature of these delusions is that people greatly believe in them, and they may be unwilling to take this step. When danger is suspected, friends or family are advised to try to help by getting in touch with professionals for advice.
Written by Tricia Ellis-Christensen
