Does a paranoid person know they are paranoid or do they think they are following their instinct? I feel that I am very instinctive, but is it possible that I am just paranoid? It seems like things work out very well when I follow my instincts. But could it be that I just make the best of the situation even if my thought process led me astray?
I honestly think I am a bit on the paranoid side at work, but its hard not to be after working in a competitive workplace for 15 years. I’ve seen too many people stab each other in the back. I’d be naive to think it isn’t happening to me.
Someone who is suffering from paranoid delusions is, by definition, delusional: They have fixed beliefs (which are not religious in nature) which are not grounded in reality and which cannot be dispelled by showing them evidence or lack thereof. In practical terms, this means they don’t know they’re paranoid, and will continue to hold their paranoid beliefs until their delusions go away, whether from drug therapy or their disease changing nature (sometimes specific delusions come in episodes) or their death.
Others are, well, just of a suspicious nature due to their personality and aren’t delusional in the slightest. [del]We call these people security researchers.[/del] They often do know that their ideas are on the paranoid side and can joke about their nature. These people aren’t usually treated for anything, because there’s not usually anything wrong with them; they’re just on a specific part of the “normal behavior” spectrum.
It’s possible for a sick person to gain insight into their condition through therapy, possibly after being medicated to the point where therapy isn’t a waste of time. So there are probably a whole lot of people who know that, if they went off their medications, they would be at risk of developing paranoid delusions again and that their beliefs wouldn’t be real. However, they wouldn’t know that while they had them, if they ever have them again; they’d be more likely to conclude that their medications are poisons and that people are trying to kill them.