Paranoia

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Am I the only person with it?

I have severe Paranoia, it causes a lot of nightmares, delusions and hallucinations. I tried to explain it to somebody once, and they wrote it off as either me being crazy or having schizophrenia. I've never met or known anybody else with paranoia, so I feel like I really am crazy and the doctor's lying to me.

I am paranoid. It is a particular type of paranoia. I don't understand what people's intentions are or how I come off to people, so I have a blanket distrust of people. It is to protect me from getting taken advantage off.

I have a bit of paranoia, too. It probably stems from my years of drug abuse, I don't know. I have sleep paralysis, too. It's that moment when you're still asleep but you think you're awake, only you can't move your body but you think someone's about to break in through the front door. I also don't trust people like I should otherwise I'd have a roommate by now.

As far as I know, paranoia is a symptom rather than a condition in itself. It would have to be caused by something, such as schizophrenia, severe social anxiety or other anxiety disorder, mania (that's what's causing it for me lately), drug use, etc. So while it's certainly unfair of people to automatically say you must be schizophrenic or "crazy," it is probably being caused by an underlying condition. It might be one you can treat. If it's possible, you might want to talk to a different doctor.

Paranoia is horrible. When I get it, everyone looks like a monster. I start to be afraid of everyone and everything. Everyone looks like they might attack me, or rape me, or kill me, or eat me. Buildings seem like they're going to collapse on me. I get horrible nightmares, the kind where I need to turn on all the lights and watch cartoons for a while before I can even think about sleep again. So don't feel alone. A lot of people have to deal with this. I hope you can find the cause and do something about it.

I've always been a bit paranoid. When I was younger, maybe 10? I would feel like there were these guys who were out to get me but I would always manage to avoid their plans at the last minute. I know it was just my imagination, but it was still there. I can't handle pictures of people who are looking at the camera (such as on magazines) because it feels like they're watching me. When I walk into rooms, I automatically find all the exit points and what I can use as a weapon, and tend to imagine what kinds of things could happen. I also have nightmares, social anxiety, and fear. I've not really hallucinated full blown, although when I'm left alone for a while my imagination goes crazy and I hear things. If left alone for 2 or more days I start talking to myself and inanimate objects. I prefer not to be alone, despite being antisocial and introverted. I've not been diagnosed with anything yet, but they said I have ASD tendencies. For all we know I could be schizophrenic? No idea.

It's nice knowing that at least I'm not the only person who feels this way.

I often swear I see or hear things that aren't there, like big figures following me, and people whispering and planning of hurting me... But they only come when I'm in a distressed or paranoid state.

kamiyu910 you could cut your mental health problems by about 70 per cent IME by changing your avatar. That thing is f*****g terrifying!

I've also severe paranoia and I can't stop it.

I suspect that I've schizotypal PD, propably with PPD, but I'm not sure about PPD because I'm just towards certain situations paranoid and not in general.

I don't know if I'm paranoid. A lot of people describe me as being paranoid, but I think that the things I do that I'm described as "paranoid" for are perfectly reasonable and often see normal people's behavior as paranoid. For example, I have no problem hitch-hiking or picking up hitch-hikers despite the fact that a lot of people tell me it's dangerous. I just feel like the average person standing on the side of the road has absolutely no reason to want to hurt me (especially if I'm doing them a favor) and therefore I have nothing to fear from them.

On the other hand, I am unusually cautious around certain groups and individuals. There are people who have proven to me that they have malicious intentions and will not hesitate to use physical force against me (most of them simply by brandishing weapons and/or explicitly stating their intentions). There are a couple county employees who have been keeping up on these events and say that some of this caution is completely justified, but that I sometimes tend to "go overboard" in these situations.

I won't state what measures I have taken to deffend myself or against whom, but people who know me will tell you that I've gone to a lot of trouble to ensure my security against very specific threats, but I still feel comfortable sharing pretty much anything about myself with homeless people I meet or letting someone see my wallet & it's rarely come back to bite me in the ass. Do I sound paranoid to you?

I had an episode of it this summer. I basically thought I was hearing peoples thoughts, became convinced that they were attempting to kill me or "push me over the edge with there thoughts", and announced that I was going to "take action before they did to protect myself" panicking my psych and almost getting me admitted to inpatient.

It seems so unreal now. I just don't know what happened, it's confusing. It's a though it was someone else that was thinking that and doing that.

There's paranoia, as in psychosis or psychotic-like experiences, and then there's cynicism, which usually occurs in autism.

Paranoia is a feeling of insecurity caused by thoughts of people or things out to get you or judge you. When you hear laughter, even distant laughter you can't help but feel if its directed at you. That sort of discomfort, for me it is chronic. I live with the feeling all day, I just choose to ignore it as best I can.

I stopped going to school because I thought my presence was such a burden on everyone, they all thought I was hideous. I would stare into the mirror and take pictures of my self constantly analyzing every defect of my face, I stopped leaving the house didn't leave my room for about a week, except to go to the bathroom. I was uncomfortable around kids because I thought everyone thought I was a pedophile. I wanted to kill myself. My room was like a bunker or something, the one safe place in the whole world. I know paranoia well.

Many unmedicated Schizophrenics have a poor sense of suffering. They don't notice or care about things like they haven't paid the bills or that they're rooms a mess. or that they haven't taken a shower in a week, or that they are eating out of a garbage can. Their thoughts are more important.

Paranoia is the reason I can't have friends. I get paranoid that I'm hurting their feelings constantly, so I try to be as nice as possible, and I'm worried it makes me come off as creepy or even facetious. I'm paranoid that people will think I act nice just to get something from them, like some kind of manipulator or sociopath. That's another thing I'm paranoid about, that people are saying I'm a sociopath behind my back. I'm paranoid that people are going to play a prank on me. I go online and talk about my paranoia, shame, depression, and anxiety to people I think might make good friends, but I end up scaring everybody away. I go on skype and wait until people say hi to me but they never do, so it MUST be because they hate me, or think I'm a psycho, or they're afraid that I'll manipulate them. My mother, who did every kind of drug before I was born, got addicted to painkillers when I was 15 and cut herself in front of me, always told me that I'm manipulative and that I'm a sociopath, so I'm scared everyone else thinks this too. I moved out 3.5 years ago as soon as I turned 18, I was homeless for 7 months, and I moved to the other side of the country just to get away, yet I'm still afraid she will find out where I live, call my employer and say something to get me fired. After being treated the way I was by society after I left my family, I don't really trust anything anymore. I was hoping I would get to develop some social and emotional skills before leaving out into the big world, but it just didn't pan out. I had to learn independence and survival. I didn't always have this intense shame and paranoia, but it started to develop after I moved out and became homeless, and I noticed it got at lot worse in the two years that I smoked weed. I would get high and almost start to hear voices, and every time I'd hear someone laugh I would think they were laughing at me, I would look in the mirror and I looked like some kind of clown, the way I walked never felt right and I was always worried people could tell that I'm not right in the head by the way I dress and walk. Sometimes I worry that the universe is punishing me for being a terrible son and friend or something.