I have a feeling I’m falling
on rare occasions
but most of the time I have my feet on the ground
I can’t help it if the ground itself is falling.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, U.S. poet. “Mock Confessional”
Paranoia is a mantle disorder involving regulated delusions, usually of harassment. It is neurotic fearfulness about something, or irrational doubts about other people and their motives.
“In paranoia the characteristic defenses are chiefly aimed at annihilating the ‘persecutors,’ while anxiety on the ego’s account occupies a prominent place in the picture.”
Melanie Klein (1882 – 1960), “The Psychogenesis of Manic-Depressive States”
1. Paranoid person feels constantly and excessively that other people have the intention to cause harm against him and something horrible is going to happen to him. He often believes that he is being ill-treated by tormenters, so he has to be vigilant to secure himself from those oppressors.
2. It is described by extreme angst or terror up to the point of absurdity and illusions.
3. Paranoia is often related to schizophrenic illnesses or mania that is marked by incoherence, hallucinations, and distorted perceptions of reality.
4. Effected person often believes that his mind is being controlled and he has been poisoned by someone.
5. Emotional detachment, egotism, delusions of magnificence and being exaggeratedly self-protective are very significant ciphers of paranoid sickness.