How to Deal with Paranoia

Begin your journey of examining your thoughts and feelings. Journaling will help you understand what might be causing you to feel paranoid; This is also a great way to relieve stress. ^[18] Diary also helps you identify triggers, people, places, and situations that seem to trigger your paranoia. Start journaling by choosing a comfortable place and setting aside about 20 minutes a day to write. Think about situations in which you have feelings of paranoia. Example: ^[19]

• When do you feel the most paranoid? Night? Early morning? What happened at that time that made you feel paranoid?
• Which people are you paranoid with? Is there someone or a certain group of people that makes you more paranoid? Why do you think those people make you more paranoid than usual?
• Where are you most paranoid? Is there a place where your paranoia is at its peak? What is it about that place that makes you feel paranoid?
• Under what circumstances do you experience paranoia? Is it in social situations? Is something happening in your surroundings?
• What memories come to your mind when you experience those feelings?

Make a plan to avoid or reduce your exposure to triggers. Once you’ve identified the situations and people that seem to be contributing to your paranoia, you can plan to reduce your exposure to those triggers. While it may not be possible to avoid certain people, places, and situations, such as work or school, being aware of triggers for paranoia can help you limit your exposure to paranoia. events and characters that you can avoid. ^[20]

• For example, if the route from home to school evokes paranoia, choose a different route or ask a friend to accompany you.

Learn to question your paranoid thinking. In cases where certain triggers cannot be avoided, learning to question your paranoid thoughts can help you reduce or eliminate the way you feel about people and situations. ^[21] The next time you find yourself having paranoid thoughts about a person, place, or situation, ask yourself the following questions: ^[22]

• What is that thought? When did I have that thought? Has anyone been there? When was that? What happen?
• Am I thinking based on fact or based on perception? What can I say?
• What am I assuming or believing in in that thought? Are my judgments or beliefs realistic? Why and why not? If that thought is real, what does it mean?
• How do I feel it – physically or mentally?
• What did/could I do to deal with the thought in a positive way? ^[23]

Distract yourself from your paranoid thoughts. If you can’t dispel the paranoid thought by examining its contents, try distracting yourself. ^[24] Call a friend, go for a walk, or watch a movie. Find a way to get your mind out of your paranoid thoughts so you don’t wallow in them.

• Distraction can help you avoid rumination, a type of obsessive thought when you ruminate over something like a broken tape recorder. Rumination has been linked to higher levels of anxiety and depression. ^[25]
• However, to deal with those thoughts, distraction alone is not enough. Distraction is a type of avoidance, which means you have to take other steps to deal with your paranoia.

Avoid punishing yourself. You may feel ashamed of your thoughts, and that makes you hard on yourself. Studies have shown that this type of approach, or “punishment,” is not effective in dealing with paranoid thoughts. ^[26]

• Instead, try using reevaluation (checking your thought process), social control (seeking advice from others), or using distractions as discussed above.

Consider if you need professional help. You can manage mild paranoia on your own, but you may need professional help if your paranoia is moderate to severe. If you have frequent paranoid thoughts, consider the following questions: ^[27]

• Do you plan to act on potentially toxic thoughts?
• Are you planning to harm yourself or others?
• Do you think or plan with the intention of harming someone?
• Do you hear voices urging you to harm yourself or others?
• Are your obsessive thoughts and behaviors affecting your family and work?
• Do you always relive a traumatic experience?
  • If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, you should seek help from a mental health professional as soon as possible.

The correct definition of “paranoid”. Many of us use the term “paranoid” quite arbitrarily. In fact, paranoia in psychology consists of persistent and exaggerated feelings of self-importance. Contrary to normal suspicion, paranoia is based on no rational basis. ^[28] Many medical conditions or mental health problems can cause delusions but are not common. You cannot and should not try to diagnose yourself. If you experience any of these symptoms, see your doctor or mental health professional. Only a medical professional can diagnose mental illnesses. ^[29]

Look for symptoms specific to paranoid personality disorder (PPD). PPD affects 0.5% to 2.5% of the population. People with PPD have feelings of suspicion of others to the point of disrupting their own daily lives, such as extreme social isolation. Symptoms include: ^[30]

• Suspicion of others without any basis, especially thinking that one may be harmed, taken advantage of or deceived by that person
• Doubting the reliability of others, even among friends and family
• Difficulty trusting or working with others
• Translating events or innocuous comments into connotations or threats
• Carrying aversion in your heart
• Social alienation or hatred
• Have sudden angry reactions

Watch for signs of paranoid schizophrenia. People with paranoid schizophrenia often believe that someone is persecuting them or their loved ones. They may also consider themselves extremely important (egotistical delusions). ^[31] Only about 1% of the population suffers from schizophrenia. ^[32] Other common signs of paranoid schizophrenia include:

• Social isolation or alienation
• Doubting others
• Behaving wary or wary
• Has delusional jealousy
• Having hallucinations of sounds (“hearing things”)

Watch for signs of delusional disorder. Delusional disorder is the belief in one or more particular delusions (e.g., “The FBI is on television and watching his every move”). It is specific and does not necessarily cover all aspects, and the patient still has normal abilities without any strange behavior. This disorder is extremely rare; only about 0.02% of the population suffers from delusional disorder. ^[33] Common symptoms of delusional disorder include: ^[34]

• There is a high degree of self-referencing, which means that patients relate to themselves in everything, even when it cannot be true (e.g. they believe that the actors in the movie are talking directly to them) .
• Confuse
• Depression
• Rampage

Think about whether you have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Paranoia can accompany PTSD, a mental illness that develops after a traumatic event. ^{[35] [36]} Traumatic experiences can even cause hallucinations and paranoia. ^[37] If you have experienced trauma in the past such as abuse, you may develop thoughts called “harmful delusions,” or believe others intends to harm you. This trust makes you suspicious of others or worried about being harmed, even in situations that hardly anyone finds suspicious or dangerous. Unlike most other types of delusions, this type of fear is based on reactions to trauma. A mental health professional with experience dealing with trauma can help you overcome this PTSD and paranoia. ^[38]

• The most common treatment for PTSD is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which focuses on learning how to recognize how the trauma is affecting your thoughts and behaviors. You can practice new ways of thinking about yourself and the world, and as a result, you can reduce your symptoms. ^[39]
• Other treatments include exposure therapy and EMDR (eye movement restorative and anesthetic therapy). ^[40]