what is the meaning of paranoia?

Answer 1

I'd answer, But I have to check my closets again...

OR

Paranoia is an excessive anxiety or fear concerning one's own well-being which is considered irrational and excessive, perhaps to the point of being a psychosis. This typically includes persecutory beliefs concerning a likely threat, or a belief in a conspiracy theory. In the original Greek, παράνοια (paranoia) means simply madness (para = outside; nous = mind) and it is this use which was traditionally used in psychiatry to describe any delusional state. However, the exact use of the term has changed over time in medicine, and because of this, modern psychiatric usage may vary.

Answer 2

Paranoia is actually anything that a person is afraid of - or to be more precise - absolutely terrified of, but with no reason based on any factual evidence of danger from it in the past, present, or future. It is a gripping fear that many people succumb to at least once or twice in their life. But some people have a constant Paranoia (unfounded fear) of a particular thing or circumstance, such as a common one is arachnophobia (fear of spiders). Even if the person knows, has read, has been shown in every way possible, and logically understands that that particular spider facing them can do them absolutely no harm what so ever, it doesn't matter. They can still be gripped in paralyzing fear, hyperventalate, sweat, shake, scream involuntarily, etc...

At least a few decades ago, paranoia was so easily explaned. Well, in the previous example of the spider, it probably still is. But now, what if you hear footsteps behind you. You look behind you and see no one. Well, perhaps you just heard a cat run by, or a branch scrape against something. Or, in this day and age of being under surveillance by our own governments and private businesses, etc.... it could just as easily NOT be paranoia, it would not be too unlikely that someone is following you, you set off a motion detector and now are being filmed. You have to be very careful these days, unfortunately, and 'trust no one'. Because, you are not paranoid if they really are out to get you.

The line between fear based in reality and unfounded fear is getting more and more blurred. That really p*sses me off, too. It really does.

Answer 3

I am not going to quote the exact term. I am going to give my own personal opinion. Paranoia, medically, is what has been explained by other answers, but I think you need to know that youre not crazy. There are various forms of paranoia, and you need to work out where you are and the reasons you are feeling this way. You may have a mental illness, you may not. Paranoia....I have been paranoid when I was married....I knew he was an immoral man after I found out he had been cheating on me...therefore when he went out and he couldnt explain it, I got a paranoid because I thought he was cheating. I was paranoid for a good reason....my experience with him in the past taught me to be that way. Did I have a mental illness? Yes I did, for a brief period of time, only because I was bringing myself down with all sorts of imaginings.....but you know the bottom line is, it doesnt matter how parnoid you get in a relationship,....the only person it hurts is yourself because it will never change the outcome.

I have worked with youth, and one in particular was termed paranoid in the medical term. He used to think he was an undercover agent, and was always looking at ulteria motives of people. His paranoia was caused by a psychiatric illness, so I am led to believe, but I personally think his state of illusion was because he had been heavily into drugs for a long time.

Like I said, paranoia has varying degrees, it doesnt have to be a medical condition, it can be a thought process bought on by experiences of the past. I think everyone has experienced some form of paranoia in their life. It is up to you to decide if you have a medical condition where your thinking processes are abnormal and not bought on by your experiences. If you feel you are not thinking logically and there are no reasons for you to think what you do, then you need to seek some help. There are some wonderful drugs now that will allow you to live your life normally. I implore you though to think about your life and what has happened in it and the way other people have treated you before you determine yourself as having paranoia in the medical sense. It is too easy for medical professionals to box you into a certain category and they will prescribe drugs to fix the medical problem, when in reality it has been your experiences that has caused this paranoia and all that you need is to talk to a professional counsellor, who will help you sort out whether you have a medical condition or a mental illness. There is a difference. a mental illness does not necessarily mean it is long lasting. Depression is a mental illness, but most people, with counselling, and sometimes anti-depressants, will get over it with time and care. You need to decide if you are paranoid in the medical sense, eg, no reason to feel this way, or else decide your paranoia is bought on by what other people have done to you in the past. My paranoia wasnt paranoia at all, it was a gut feeling that he was still cheating on me. I was right...he was.

Answer 4

Paranoia is an excessive anxiety or fear concerning one's own well-being which is considered irrational and excessive, perhaps to the point of being a psychosis. This typically includes persecutory beliefs concerning a likely threat, or a belief in a conspiracy theory. In the original Greek, παράνοια (paranoia) means simply madness (para = outside; nous = mind) and it is this use which was traditionally used in psychiatry to describe any delusional state. However, the exact use of the term has changed over time in medicine, and because of this, modern psychiatric usage may vary.

In psychiatry, the term paranoia was used by Emil Kraepelin to describe a mental illness in which a delusional belief is the sole, or most prominent feature. In his original attempt at classifying different forms of mental illness, Emil Kraepelin used the term pure paranoia to describe a condition where a delusion was present, but without any apparent deterioration in intellectual abilities and without any of the other features of dementia praecox, the condition later renamed schizophrenia. Notably, in his definition, the belief does not have to be persecutory to be classified as paranoid, so any number of delusional beliefs can be classified as paranoia. For example, a person who has the sole delusional belief that he is an important religious figure would be classified by Kraepelin as having 'pure paranoia'.

Although the diagnosis of pure paranoia is no longer used (having been superseded by the diagnosis of delusional disorder) the use of the term to signify the presence of delusions in general, rather than persecutory delusions specifically, lives on in the classification of paranoid schizophrenia, which denotes a form of schizophrenia where delusions are prominent.

More recently, the clinical use of the term has been used to describe delusions where the affected person believes they are being persecuted. Specifically, they have been defined as containing two central elements:

The individual thinks that harm is occurring, or is going to occur, to him or her.
The individual thinks that the persecutor has the intention to cause harm.
Paranoia is often associated with psychotic illnesses, particularly schizophrenia, although attenuated features may be present in other primarily non-psychotic diagnoses, such as paranoid personality disorder.

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).

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.

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Paranoia depicted in popular culture
In popular culture paranoia is often represented as including:

Belief in having special powers or being on a special mission (a "delusion of grandeur")
Conspiracy theories, such as seeing seemingly unrelated news events as parts of a larger, typically conspiratorial plan
Exaggerated fear of terrorists, criminals or bandits
Black helicopters and other mass surveillance
Persecution from powerful adversaries such as UFOs, terrorists, the Men in Black, secret societies or demons
Paranoia or belief in conspiracy theories involving perceived political or social enemies (as in The Paranoid Style in American Politics by Richard Hofstadter)
Mind control through invisible rays, and tinfoil hats to combat them
Fear of poisoning, adulterated food (e.g., aspartame) or water (e.g., fluoridation) as part of a secret plot
Reading a story, watching a movie, or listening to a song and feeling that one's life is exactly like that of the subject of said story, movie, or song. The movie The Truman Show, which depicted a man who discovers his entire life has been filmed as a TV show, is one of the more commonly referenced films.
The maxim: Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that they aren't really out to get you.
Along the same vein: Even paranoids have enemies.

Answer 5

it is a sort of mental disorder,abnormal tendency to suspect and mistrust others

Answer 6

Ask that guy who is following you!

Answer 7

Undue stress on you! hehehehe!

Answer 8

thinking they are all out to get you !