What Is Paranoia?

Norton takes an interesting view on the outside influences that partake in the paranoia of the

Paranoid Schizophrenia is a disease that affects the brain in such a way that is distorts reality of those with the disease. Paranoid Schizophrenia is the most common type of Schizophrenia. The symptoms as listed by the Mayo Clinic are as follows:

dichotomy of fear and reason, and supports this focus by displaying examples of expertise in the

Canadian Mental Health Association (2014) defines paranoid psychosis as a serious but treatable medical condition that reflects a disturbance in brain functioning. A person with psychosis experiences some loss of contact with reality, characterized by changes in their way of thinking, believing, perceiving and/or behaving. For the person experiencing psychosis, the condition can be very disorienting and distressing. Without effective treatment, psychosis can overwhelm the lives of individuals and families.

According to Garber, Gross, and Slonim (2010) paranoid schizophrenia is mainly characterized by auditory hallucinations and delusions. The delusions people experience are mainly about been someone famous, been persecuted unfairly, or conspiracy theories. People suffering from paranoid schizophrenia will have normal intellectual functioning, which

While fear itself is a healthy emotion, irrational fears cause people to take irrational actions. In The Science of Fear by Daniel Gardner, the aspects of human's response to fear are explained in four different groups. When people experience fear, naturally they come together with the people who share similar beliefs (Gardner 15). Gardner describes this gravitation as “group polarization” and with this comes confirmation bias. When the groups of people come together with the bias they hold to be true if confirmed and strengthened by those who share them (Gardner 15). The actions of these groups are based on the two systems of thinking. System one thinking is fast, involving feelings and emotions. Whereas system two thinking is based on reason and logic within one's actions (Gardner 15). However, the actions caused by fear are sometimes out of the thought of fear rather than the reality of it. The reality is that “ the only thing we have to fear … if fear itself-

Sometimes fear has the ability to make one feel as if they are losing their mind completely. Fear often has the ability to eat away at a person. In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the author demonstrates how fear can cause paranoia.

Walker addressed this topic in her speech as well, “ ‘productive paranoia’ ...which meant that these people, instead of dismissing their

Whenever people think irrationally, they often do many things that would not normally seem a reality. Fear is both a blessing and a curse, really. Fear helps people stay out of danger; fear helps people avoid awkward situations, but at the same time, fear

In its most basic form, paranoia is an irrational fear or extreme anxiety. Most people experience some form of paranoia at one time or another during their lifetime. However, clinical paranoia is an extreme fear of something that could never actually occur. The person who is experiencing this type of paranoia often understands that what is triggering the terror is illogical and infeasible yet it still causes crippling angst.

-excessive social anxiety that does not diminish with familiarity and tends to be associated with paranoia.

The patients are usually aware that their thoughts are irrational but that does not stop them from experiencing the anxiety

I am kind of a paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy. ~ J.D. Salinger

Paranoid schizophrenia is pretty much what it sounds like. They can feel like someone is always watching them, or that somebody is plotting something against them. They can also feel very suspicious of other people around them. Disorganized schizophrenia is when a person is very delusional. They are not really sure of what is going on around them, and are often times incoherent. Catatonic schizophrenia is when a person very negative or quiet. They are very withdrawn and can be seen sitting in very unusual positions. They have been known to sits in one position’s for hours, not moving or saying a word. Last is Residual schizophrenia. This is probable one of the worst types. A person with this type really does not care about life anymore. They usually do not delusional, and are no longer hallucinating.

Within anxiety you are have the same process going on, an association of beliefs and responding emotions however within anxiety the 'danger' tends to be a response to 'past experiences, or.perceived experiences' rather than real life ones. Even within the real life experience the emotions within anxiety are distorted to include more fear than appropriate.