What is paranoia?

Everybody experiences suspicious or irrational thoughts from time to time. These fears are described as paranoid when they are exaggerated and there is no evidence that they are true.

There are three key features of paranoid thoughts. If you have paranoia, you may:

• fear that something bad will happen
• think that other people or external causes are responsible
• have beliefs that are exaggerated or unfounded.

Generally speaking, if you are experiencing paranoia, you will feel a sense of threat and fear.

There are different types of threat or harm that you may feel paranoid about. You may feel you are at risk of:

• psychological or emotional harm – thinking somebody is bullying you, spreading rumours about you, talking about you behind your back
• physical harm – believing somebody trying to physically hurt or injure you, or even trying to kill you
• financial harm – thinking another person is stealing from you, or is damaging your property or tricking you into giving away your money.

It could be one person you feel threatened by, or it may be a group of people, an =read more =http://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/paranoia/#.VvaQyuKLTIU