Have you ever felt paranoid or like someone was out to get you? We have all had this feeling at one point or another, even sometimes when it is illogical or groundless. The thing is, for some people, this feeling is an everyday struggle. Why? Paranoid personality disorder is why. It is when a person has the delusional thought that someone is out to get them.
They usually have long-standing distrust and suspicion towards others, even if they're friends. They may think that people have malevolent motives. Living with this disorder could mean you never know who to trust. Paranoid personality disorder was first described by Magnan, a French psychiatrist, who viewed it as a “fragile personality” that showed idiosyncratic thinking, hypochondriasis, undue sensitivity, referential thinking and suspicion. Many descriptions have been made since then.
Researchers are not sure what causes paranoid personality disorder, but they have theories.
One theory is that it's a biopsychosocial model of causation — meaning, it's due to genetic or biological factors, social factors and psychological factors. This means no single factor is responsible. Researchers believe that it may be passed down from parent to child through genetics.
There are three clusters of personality disorders.
Cluster A: Odd or eccentric behavior.
Cluster B: dramatic, emotional, or erratic behavior.
Cluster C: anxious fearful behavior.
Paranoid personality disorder fits in cluster A, because features of this disorder have to do with interpreting others actions as deliberately threatening or demeaning. Also, those afflicted by the disorder may have a mistrustful, unforgiving nature and be prone to aggressive outbursts without validation. These actions are caused by the fact that they perceive people to be unfaithful, disloyal, condescending or deceitful. Furthermore, they can be jealous, guarded, secretive and scheming.
When diagnosing someone with paranoid personality disorder, or most mental illnesses, there are no blood or genetic tests to tell if someone has it, which is why they use signs and symptoms to diagnosis them. Signs and symptoms would be distrust of others, suspecting people are going to harm, exploit or deceive them without having sufficient basis. Because of unwarranted worry and fear that information will be used maliciously they don’t confide in people, they see hidden meanings of threats in messages, remarks or events and may even be unforgiving. Some may perceive that people are attacking their character or reputation when it is not apparent to others, but they will retaliate quickly and angrily. This can be dangerous because it means they could hurt someone for no reason other than their own irrational suspicions.
Paranoid personality disorder is diagnosed by a medical professional when the patient is an adult, eighteen or over. The prognosis given is not a death sentence, and even without treatment, a person diagnosed can live. Even so, a person with paranoid personality disorder could be a danger to themselves or others. Paranoid personality disorder is usually a chronic illness, but there is treatment. Treatment would be long-term therapy, medications or self-help. There is no prevention for paranoid personality disorder because researchers believe it is a genetic disorder that can’t be tested for, so there is no way in making sure that you or an offspring will not have it.
Everyone has times of insecurities due to which they may feel paranoid. We all know how that feels, but imagine that every day, all day, you feel like you're the punch line to a joke you're not in on or that people, like your friends or family, have malicious and deceitful intents towards you. Having paranoid personality disorder would be a constant struggle in deciphering who is friend and who is foe when everyone seems like an enemy. Since it is a chronic disorder it is long last, even with treatment it could take a while. Still, the prognosis is never death, so don't give up and stay strong.
