What is Paranoia?
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Paranoia is a word that is frequently used in today’s society to describe someone who is mistrustful in the way they view the world. Although it is now quite a common word, it has only become popular in the last two decades.
The rise of paranoia in today’s society is thought to have come about from the public’s perception that we live in an Orwellian society. The term Orwellian refers to George Orwell’s book 1984, which describes a world in which everything, down to our thought processes, is monitored. It is true that on a brief shopping trip into town we are captured on camera almost 300 times in a single day. This constant monitoring, which allows companies to know our shopping habits and people to be traced through their DNA, has brought about a rise in paranoia. It seems that in today’s Big Brother society, everyone knows everything we are doing.
Paranoia is medically classed as a psychotic disorder. The sufferer feels persecuted by others. He also usually has an exaggerated view of his own self-importance. Although paranoia is a mental illness, it is not usually an isolated condition and is often linked to some other mental illness.
It is difficult to determine the cause or causes of paranoia. Paranoid people may suffer from an emotional and mental breakdown in certain thought processes. An incident in the past may have built up unconsciously into a serious underlying mental disturbance. Repressed feelings can also be a cause of paranoia, along with circumstances or projected feelings onto other people.
The symptoms of paranoia are diverse. The most common is a distrust of people. Paranoid people always look for the ulterior motive and question others' actions. They are easily offended and unable to relax. Paranoid people may also be uncomfortable at social functions and fear being taken advantage of. Other symptoms may include stubbornness, perfectionism and difficulty in expressing forgiveness.
A paranoid person will not usually be aware that she is paranoid, no matter how much you tell her. Insisting that a sufferer is paranoid will only increase her questioning of the people around them. Paranoid people may, in time, come to realize that they are questioning every action another person takes, no matter how small, but it is very difficult for the paranoid person to break this cycle.
Treatment for paranoia is usually through behavior therapy. Behavior therapy teaches the sufferer how to be less sensitive to criticism. It also tries to make the paranoiac increase his social skills. The therapy may take a long time, as paranoia is very difficult to overcome due to the guarded traits associated with the disorder.
We are constantly taught from an early age to question others' motives, to be aware and to be mistrustful of people. The media supplies us with mass examples everyday of people who are not to be trusted: corrupt politicians, lying businessmen and warmongering world leaders. Paranoia may be a mental illness, but it may be one that society takes for granted and actually caters to.
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19
I'm 15. Whenever I hear people laugh, I always assume they are laughing at me, for some odd reason. I also honestly truly think none of my friends like me. I want it to stop. I hate it. :( - anon49037
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Paranoia can be caused by many various triggers, but always they are related to an event that may have been shrugged off, but subconsciously you thought process goes over and over the event, eventually that subconscious becomes conscious. that's when paranoia reveals itself. one of the most common events is when an individual gets a trigger, so say this person's house was broken into and they disturbed the robber, and the robber was wearing something memorable like a balaclava. when ever that person sees that trigger item, it sets off paranoia. this person suffering from this state will then distrust most people around them to the point where they can act aggressive. this is also linked to road rage. if a person has an accident in a car when they were younger, it once again gets bottled up, but then whenever that person sees a trigger item, it sets it off. this then leads to a very common occurrence, which is to grow up and drive yourself, and to then be aware of everyone around you and screaming abuse when people make mistakes like forgetting to signal, even to the extreme of being cut up at a roundabout and then following that car -- even when it's in the opposite direction to your destination.
I hope you found this informative, and would advise anyone worrying about this to visit their general practitioner and be referred to a counselor. - anon44934
17
I have a friend of mine who has become increasingly violent towards me, including using physical violence (punching, kicking) and threats. Mood changes are instantanious from friendly to aggressive. Aggression can be brought on by the smallest of things - my tone of voice or facial expression. If I contradict a point of view I'm 'taking sides' against him, for which he says he'll hit me if I do it again. He's obsessed with lying, seeing it as an 'inevitable weakness' in others and if he's challenged with lying (even if you say he may have misunderstood) violence occurs or is threatened. He refers to others as 'Your People' and distances himself from all others in this way, apart from his closest family. He is deeply religious but also believes in the occult and will chant spells to himself. He refers to himself as 'a pheonix' and sometimes says that his powers are growing. When I first met him I thought this was all a joke. He refers to murdering sections of society - again I thought this was jesting. Any criticism of his work is devastating to him, causing him to dwell endlessly on the people criticising him and their motives, causing him great upset and distress. He has an obession with cleanliness, especially with toilets, endlessly bleaching them. He constantly worries about speed cameras and cameras in general when driving, worrying for weeks about being caught doing something wrong on them, and needing to know in advance where they might be on a motorway. The other day he was accidentally touched by someone in the gym and made me go with him to wash his hands. There are many more examples of strange behaviour and beliefs, too many to mention here. Because of the increased violence I have just stopped all communication with him (which he seems to have accepted far too easily), however, as a friend, I am worried about his health. - anon43971
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hello i'm 15 years old. i have the same problem as one of the people below me. when i'm home i feel like someone is always watching me. - anon41103
15
I would walk into a store and automatically think people are looking at me and talking about me for some reason, I know for a fact that I'm paranoid which is a good thing because it means that I don't have to be afraid or feel that I am being observed by anyone. You just need to embrace the fact that no one cares and the only reason why they would look at you is because... you are cute? you are awesome? There can be lots of positive reasons instead of negative. - anon36437
14
i think paranoia is related to sexual assault or whatever because if you were sexually abused by somebody then you may feel paranoid in a situation to do with sex. - anon34120
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I Am 15 Years Old And I Get Feelings That I'm Not Safe In My Own Home I Always think There Is Someone There and They Are Going To Hurt Me Or Someone Close To Me. I've Had That Feeling Ever Since My Dad Died When I Was 9 But It Is *worse* Now. - anon31852
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Hello, I am 42 and female. I have just come terms that I have PPD. I never thought thought that distrust is paranoia. I am in a relationship of 1 1/2 and I continually feel and insist my partner is cheating on me, but there is no evidence to support it. I have always had issues of not trusting due to my childhood experiences.I am currently going to therapy and trying to heal from the abuse (physical, mental, sexual, and incest). I guess there is more there than I thought. I do feel that this is from my abuse. My distrust is only towards my partner because we are getting too close. I take medication for borderline depression. Wondering if this is one of my defense mechanisms to keep myself alone. I don't want to be alone. I really feel bad and want to get better. How do you build trust again..? - anon27762
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I always think that people are laughing at me. Like, yesterday, I was out eating with my parents, and I'm really self-conscious about how I look. (This goes into a long story about me hating my side profile and being made fun of, etc.) A family was sitting a couple tables away, and they start laughing, and I blush and cover my face and I feel terrible. Same with when I'm walking in the hallway at school. Also, like at a new year's party, I decided to hang out with the little kids instead of my friends because I didn't know what to talk about and thought that they wouldn't want to hear anything I had to say anyways.I can't stand this. =( It's depressing me. - anon23809
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im 18 and have got 2 little boys, i have had this fear for as long as i can remember but dont know what to do about it as it has got a lot worse over the last few years. i hate being on my own as i think that someone is waiting to get me even in my own flat, i cant go into my bedroom during the day if my partner is at work because i get to scared and if my partner goes to bed before i have to wake him up and he has to wait for me to get into bed before he can turn the light out. i cant cope with it anymore its ruining my life. - anon23660
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I'm 15 turning 16 this Oct.29 it all started last year when i was in third year high school i imagined things like there is someone behind me that is a spirit or something like demons that thought scares me what am i going to do, i dont like it, it pains me. - anon19918
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Sometimes I feel like others are going out of there way to "try and get me". Though realistically there probably not. I often feel there is almost a conspiracy against me. I cannot walk down the street without feeling like I'm being watched or followed - my nightmare is supermarkets I cant stand big crowds. I also have irrational thoughts - for example after a night out-where I always get so drunk I dont remember what happens - always. I found a small puncture mark on my stomach - this had disappeared the day after but I was convinced - to be honest I may go and get tested as I still think maybe someone saw I was drunk and an easy target and injected me with a needle that has HIV in it and now I'm infected. I dont like big crowds of people and find social situations a struggle, I find it very difficult to relax and always have, whether I'm by myself or with people - the only thing I have found to make my symptoms go away is alcohol. Is this normal or what do you suggest I do? Thanks - anon19783
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for a few years now i have been feeling nervous around new people and my friends. i have had a very bad experience with my friends and even though they have told me that they are my friends i dont believe them as they dont seem to care about me, i also fear that people are talking and laughing about me behind my back and that no one likes me. if you could help? - anon19523
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im 16, and already i feel as i am being watched, i hate walking down a street by myself i feel everyone is watching me and when i see them look away and talk it makes me nervous, and lately i have developed a fear of both open water and the dark of all things, at night and sometimes during the day while im by myself i can sometimes hear voices and smell things, and my friends sometimes say im random and can just suddenly change the subject for no apparent reason. At night and sometimes during the day i have to look several times and inanimate objects and i sometimes see them as people or animals. Its has being starting to scare me, i have told my friends in a joking manner about it, trying to add humour, but the more i think about it i think i forcing myself to believe it, and also i have lately developed a somewhat 'twin personality' sometimes i feel happy, jolly and good. while others i feel hatred, malice and evil towards people, i know im doing it but it feels right at the time, but after i question why i had done it, and at times i feel myself drawing pictures of demons, and anti-semitic things for no reason, it pains me but it seems so right at the time. My latest was the world in a glass and a sign saying god has us all trapped.
What would you recommend i do? should i just wait it out, i feel as though it will go away in time. - anon16508
Editor's reply: while we cannot offer medical advice, common sense would suggest visiting your doctor for a mental health assessment. good luck!
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my friend is 19 years old, i have only known her for a few months, we study the same course. She's been feeling very down and emotional as she mentions all the time that she thinks nobody likes her, she questions everything/any comment she receives and will openly tell everyone that she feels they don't like her and is very defensive and easily offended always and to extremes. It seems that now most people find it hard to be around her as this makes her very hard to deal with. I think this is a result of the persona she is creating by the kind of comments she repeats, showing to be very weak, paranoid, self-conscious and submissive. A lot of people have responded by telling her she is being paranoid and she finds this extremely offensive and doesn't like the word to be associated with her. She says that she has always been that way, even at primary school, but now as she has begun uni away from home, it has began to effect her more. It seems that she is now feeling her insecurities on a deeper level which is worsening the issue as she really exerts a strong and quite obvious lack in the ability to trust other people so much so that it is effecting her ability to build close friendships. This is because people don't have the patience or ability to deal with her behavior towards them. I would like to know what I can suggest to her to improve her confidence and trust in people when she talks to me (she likes to talk about it) without her becoming offended, as I don't believe she would allow herself to acknowledge that may be a mental issue which she needs to seek help for. - anon11898
4
i have a grandson, whom is 21 yrs old. he was once a very popular teenager, now he is paranoid, hears voices, his personal appearances is suffering, he is neglecting his personal hygiene. does this behavior seem familiar to anyone on here? - anon11101
Editor's reply: he should definitely be seen by a psychiatrist immediately.
3
How to avoid being paranoid when most of your loved ones had betrayed you, How do you bring the trust back?
- hotbabe
2
Is paranoia what you call, when you lose trust to someone who cheated and lied to you so many times? - hotbabe
1
Do you think paranoia is related to sexual abuse? I cannot find anything that relates the two. thanks - rossgrl07
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Written by
Garry Crystal
Last Modified: 17 October 2009
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