What is the difference between intuition and paranoia?

Question

Are they related?

I have very finely tuned intuitive responses and my intuition usually serves me well, in that I make a fair few decisions based on what my gut instinct is telling me without any real hard evidence, and later my decisions are substantiated by the outcomes.

But sometimes it would appear that some people believe their intuition is telling them something when the reality is much, much different. Like for example, the jealous spouse who imagines his partner is cheating with no evidence whatsoever to back it up and the partner isn't cheating?

So where is the line crossed and when does intuition become paranoia?

Answer 1

Without getting too much into the sciences or assumptions of the two. Intuition is a natural response to something without any bias ie you are not reacting to a situation based on what you know about a person purely on a gut feeling. Paranoia on the other hand is when you imagine things or responses based on what you think you know about a person e.g she is likely to do that because that is what she is like. Paranoia is more than simply allowing your prejudices cloud your judgment, it is obsessively and detrimentally allowing that to happen.
Is there a link between the two? Yes quite possibly in the early stages of paranoia a person might believe they intuitively know a person as a basis for their paranoia. However where it becomes something more is when that person refuses to have any kind of rationality to their feelings and (often) isn't even aware that they are allowing their emotional judgment of the person to cloud their judgment and responses.

Answer 2

Paranoia is a personality trait that is exhibited frequently and obviously by the individual, and it is always negative. I.e. it involves being irrationally convinced that people are talking negatively about you, that they are in conspiracies against you, hate you, are planning to harm you, etc.

Intuition involves a sense or feeling about a person or situation, and the sense or feeling may be either positive or negative. The feeling would not usually be considered bizarre or irrational, but rather within the realm of possibility. Intuition would likely occur now and then, whereas paranoia would be evident almost all the time if you look closely. Intuition is seen as a useful ability, while paranoia is a pervasive negative personality trait that is highly symptomatic of a mental disorder.

Answer 3

Paranoia is a character trait that's exhibited commonly and clearly by utilising the guy, and it rather is consistently detrimental. I.e. it is composed of being irrationally confident that honestly everyone seems to be conversing negatively approximately you, that they are in conspiracies against you, hate you, are making plans to break you, and so on. instinct is composed of a feeling or feeling some guy or woman or situation, and the experience or feeling could be the two advantageous or detrimental. the sensation does not frequently be seen extraordinary or irrational, yet incredibly in the area of danger. instinct might in all probability ensue now and then, while paranoia could be obvious incredibly much all the time in case you look heavily. instinct is seen as a smart capacity, at the same time as paranoia is a pervasive detrimental character trait that's extremely symptomatic of a psychological illness.

Answer 4

Not exactly answering your question about the possible link between instinct and paranoia, but I know exactly what you mean. My "intuition" in a relationship WITHOUT FAIL has later been found to be absolutely spot -on. Even this weekend I had a "I knew i was right" experience that I had for the last 4 weeks been thinking was just my own paranoia based on previously known indiscretion (not mine). My advice to anyone now would be to believe your own gut instinct!! My question is now, how should I act on the information I have gained?

Answer 5

When intuition turns evolves into rumination on possible slights, offenses or conspiracies against you, it's paranoia.

Paranoia tends to pair up with cognitive distortions or even delusions. Intuition is more often expressed as a feeling that is not necessarily a worry.