The 5 Signs of Paranoia: Reasonable Caution or Unhealthy Suspicion?

Paranoid personality disorder, like any mental illness, complicates the life of the sick person and those around him. A person ceases to trust people, he becomes suspicious. Signs of paranoia can manifest as complete isolation from society, refusal of any interaction with others, and the presence of constant paranoid thoughts. At the same time, it is important to understand that there is a line between reasonable caution and unhealthy suspicion, since obsessive thoughts to one degree or another can haunt quite healthy people.

Characteristic signs of paranoia that require specialist attention

Paranoid personality disorder occurs in about 0.5-2.5% of the world's population. It is worth noting that more often men suffer from paranoia .

Men are more likely to suffer from paranoia than women.

The most common signs of paranoia are:

It is difficult for the patient to communicate with other people because of his own hostility and aggression. It seems to the patient that he is constantly being watched, hence the aggression towards others appears. As a rule, the hostility of the patient becomes the reason for the counter hostility of the opponent, which in turn only increases the patient's paranoia.
The patient is confident in his own importance, as a result of which he becomes unyielding and prone to arguments and even fights. Sometimes paranoids form small groups, which over time can turn into cults.
The nature and severity of symptoms varies from patient to patient. Some sufferers completely lose touch with reality during mental attacks, which can last from a few minutes to several hours.
Paranoid patients do not trust the doctor, which makes the treatment process much more difficult.
Because of low scores, paranoid individuals prefer social isolation. They are unable to work with other people.

To be diagnosed, the patient must have at least five of the symptoms of paranoid disorder listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Other signs of paranoia may include:

hypersensitivity to failures and failures;
constant dissatisfaction with others, arrogant attitude, inability to forgive;
suspicion, a tendency to distort facts and people's actions;
aggressive attitude;
unreasonable and unjustified suspicions about the betrayal of a partner;
heightened sense of significance;
reduced mental activity.

Causes of symptoms of paranoia and treatment of the disorder

The causes of paranoid disorder are not fully understood, which complicates not only the diagnosis, but also the treatment of the disease. There are no separate tests or imaging technologies for diagnosing paranoia. The diagnosis is made on the basis of a detailed questioning of the patient himself, as well as his family and friends.