Paranoia

In popular culture, the term paranoia is usually used to describe excessive concern about one's own well-being, sometimes suggesting a person holds persecutory beliefs concerning a threat to themselves or their property and is often linked to a belief in conspiracy theories.

Examples of clinical paranoia

In the unrestricted use of the term, common paranoid delusions can include the belief that the person is being followed, poisoned or loved at a distance (often by a media figure or important person, a delusion known as erotomania or de Clerambault syndrome).

Related Topics:
Erotomania - De Clerambault syndrome

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Other common paranoid delusions include the belief that the person has an imaginary disease or parasitic infection (delusional parasitosis); that the person is on a special quest or has been chosen by God; that the person has had thoughts inserted or removed from conscious thought; or that the person's actions are being controlled by an external force.

Related Topics:
Parasitic - Delusional parasitosis - Controlled by an external force

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many despotic rulers (for example Stalin) allegedly suffered from paranoia. This presents an interesting question because in Stalin's case, it is quite likely that many people really were out to get him (some theories concerning his death state that he was poisoned). Might it be that with enough enemies, it is impossible not to be clinically paranoid? It still might be possible to identify a paranoid in that situation via his unrealistic assessment of the relative threat presented by various enemies, but it is not clear that non-paranoid persons are all that good at this. This raises interesting philosophical questions about the criteria by which we can diagnose a belief as paranoid or delusional, as well as prompting the joke that "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~