Paranoia

From Drug Rehab Wiki

People commonly talk about being "paranoid" or overly fearful about a certain issue. For example, a student may say he is "paranoid" about flunking algebra. However, paranoia is a medical term used by doctors, and it refers to a state of mental illness.

Paranoia is a mental state characterized by exaggerated fears and distrust of others. The person may believe that others are constantly thinking about him and "out to get him." Sometimes there are specific and irrational elements to paranoia, for example, the person may be convinced that space aliens are trying to kill him.

Paranoid personality disorder and paranoid schizophrenia are both mental illnesses involving paranoia, however, they are not the same. Paranoid schizophrenics have bizarre and often grandiose delusions that they are being persecuted or singled out, or that others are plotting against them. Criminals with paranoid schizophrenia sometimes act out by going on shooting sprees at their schools or places of work, because they are convinced they need to kill others before they kill them.

Paranoid personality disorders involve paranoia characterized by constant suspicions of others, rather than the full-blown delusions of schizophrenia. A person with paranoid personality disorder may bear grudges, believe others have bad intentions toward him, and have constant doubts about the motives of their friends and family members. Certain drugs, the most common being methamphetamine, can produce temporary states of paranoia.