Most people with a paranoid disorder are very suspicious, with out any logical or rational reason. One of the most common symptoms of a paranoid disorder is the feeling that people are out to get you or spying on you. There are different types and levels of paranoia. Paranoid disorders often start in a “mild way with temporary paranoid attacks” (Web 2) when you recognize that your fears are not real.
In the most extreme cases, you may not recognize that your fears are untrue and therefore do not ask for help. This can develop into a single paranoid idea that can take control of your whole life and prevent you from having normal relationships with other people. This is called paranoid personality disorder.
Paranoid personality disorder is characterized by a distrust of others and a constant suspicion that people around you have sinister motives. People with this disorder tend to have excessive trust in their own knowledge and abilities and usually avoid close relationships with others. They search for hidden meanings in everything and read hostile intentions into the actions of others. They are quick to “challenge the loyalties of friends and loved ones and often appear cold and distant to others” (Web 1). They usually shift blame to others and tend to carry long grudges.
Diagnosis is often hard to make, as there are over 80 other conditions that include forms of paranoia. Sometimes, older people can have paranoid attacks because they lose their independence and feel like they are being a burden to friends and relatives. Age-related conditions such as partial deafness can also lead people to believe that other people are talking about them. Paranoid disorders are more common in people who live in towns and cities than in rural areas. There is some evidence to suggest that young men and older women are most at risk from developing paranoid disorders........
