Are you always suspicious of people or things around you? Is it difficult to trust other persons, even those who are close to you? Do you fear that something terrible is going to happen at any time? If you answered yes to all these questions, then you may have paranoia.
What is paranoia?
Paranoia is characterized by intense anxiety in everyday life as well as irrational mistrust towards other people. This is often associated with the fear of being harmed or injured, whether physically or emotionally. A paranoid person feels threatened by possible misfortunate events that may happen in his life. Shahram Heshmat Ph.D. defines, “The term paranoia refers to someone who feels excessively suspicious without justification, or that others are plotting against him.”
It is essential to understand paranoia is present in a lot of psychotic disorders. This kind of negative thoughts or emotions can be highly dangerous since a paranoid person usually becomes unreasonable and illogical. In some cases, paranoia even leads to the development of a delusional disorder.
What are the signs?
These are the standard signs that indicate the presence of paranoia:
- – Constant fear of being attacked in public, even if one is located in a safe place
- – Extra vigilant about everything to the point that the person is already starting to look ridiculous
- – Overthinking about negative situations
- – Always suspicious of other people
- – Acting defensive at all times
What causes it?
There are a lot of reasons why a person may become paranoid. One of which is childhood trauma. When an individual experienced being brutally injured or abused in the past, the tendency is that the said child will grow up having irrational fears. In the long run, he may become entirely paranoid.
Molly S. Castelloe Ph.D. further supports the above, “Someone prone to paranoid states was often shamed for commonplace feelings as a child, learned that such affect was unacceptable, and responded by disavowing these aspects of reality and projecting them onto others.”
Another common reason is the breakdown of some emotional functions. A person who has undergone a severe emotional situation also has a high possibility of being paranoid. Without him noticing it, he starts to stop thinking clearly and focuses more on negative thoughts.
How to get over paranoia?
If you believe that you have paranoia, then make sure to follow these tips and tricks to get over it:
- Learn how to control your mind. Keep in mind that you can change your thoughts. Instead of thinking about the negative things that may come into your life, why don’t you shift it to the positive ones? “The key to overcoming suspicious thoughts may be learning to cope with worry,” Daniel Freeman, Ph.D. and co-author pointed out. It may be difficult to be optimistic at first. However, with constant practice, you will inevitably become a master of it.
- Identify the main reason for your paranoia. Do not be afraid to confront the root problem that is making you feel paranoid. Try to identify when and how your fear started. Knowing all these things can help you accurately address your issue.
- Talk to a friend. Is there something that is bothering you? Remember that there are people in your life who are willing to listen to what you have to say. If opening up to someone is quite challenging on your part, do not worry because you can always start by just talking about random topics. BetterHelp can be your friend. They have experts that can assist you in dealing with your issues.
For more efficient ways to deal with paranoia, feel free to check https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/how-to/how-to-get-rid-of-paranoia-in-five-easy-steps/. There are five more steps that you can learn from the article.