Research on Paranoia

People that experience paranoia have beliefs that other people are intentionally trying to do them harm even no there is no actual evidence of them doing so. Paranoia is the unknown fear that something bad is about to happen, however not knowing what and that other people are to blame for this as there are to be believed to have planned it out.

People who have experienced the symptoms of psychosis regularly have paranoid thoughts which becomes a frightening. They live in the fear that they are going to be psychically harmed, believe that things are being said behind their backs, have people plotting against them or even trying to control them by manipulating their thoughts. Sometimes the person with paranoia doesn't even know who they're scared of.

In general people with paranoid have a constant fear, however there are different types of threats that they can feel paranoid about, such as:

• Psychological or emotional harm - thinking that someone is against you, such as saying stuff behind your back, planning stuff against you, intentionally annoying you and so on.
• Psychical harm - having thoughts that someone is going to intentionally hurt or kill you.
• Financial harm - having thoughts that someone is trying to steal from you, damaging your stuff or manipulating you into giving them money.
  

Persecutory delusions are seen to be the most extreme versions of paranoid thoughts as they are one of the most common symptoms of schizophrenia; although not everyone diagnosed with schizophrenia will have them these types of experiences can be related or come along with voices that confirm the person's beliefs and fears. They are a symptom of paranoid schizophrenia which is a sub-type of schizophrenia, sometimes people who are diagnosed with this may see themselves as being important in some sort of way and thus this is the reason that they are being persecuted with the illness. They can also experience auditory hallucinations, sinister whispering or laughter as well as voice that can be seen as mocking or threatening.

Some people can be given the less common diagnosis of  'delusional disorder' if they do experience persecutory delusions however do not experience hallucinations.

Anyone who is a victim of persecutory delusions is more than likely to withdraw themselves from other people in their life to protect themselves from getting hurt therefore to avoid situations where they feel threatened. They mostly will spend a lot of time by themselves worrying about their fears rather than turning to someone for help as they do not seem to trust anyone. If someone is content that other people are intent on hurting or harming them, they begin to interpret actions and events in a way that confirms their beliefs for them rather than considering alternative explanations.