# Why is paranoia such a common symptom of mental illness? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 29, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-paranoia-such-a-common-symptom-of-mental-illness/632991 "2012-08-29T01:14:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-paranoia-such-a-common-symptom-of-mental-illness/632991/21 "2012-08-30T02:17:16Z")
> [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](#): > > I surmise it’s because people who are mentally ill may well be aware that _something_ is wrong, but they’re incapable of accepting the possibility that _they_ are wrong, so they have to blame The Problem on an external source. I’ve met and indeed worked with people who are pathologically incapable of accepting blame, or even accepting the possibility that they might have made a mistake… This explains a lot of the interactions in The Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-paranoia-such-a-common-symptom-of-mental-illness/632991/22 "2012-08-30T05:46:55Z")
There’s a level of paranoia that’s not quite disabling enough to qualify as a mental illness but is enough to make the person clearly nuts. The internet is full of conspiracy theories that are easily recognised as batshit insane by anyone familiar with clinical paranoia, but the people professing them are usually more-or-less functional in society, sometimes fully functional in terms of being able to hold down a job and have a “normal” life. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-paranoia-such-a-common-symptom-of-mental-illness/632991/23 "2012-08-30T06:02:07Z")
> [@Yarster](#): > > I’ve always suspected it was because mental illness makes you hyper sensitive to inconsequential things and totally oblivious to others. As such, if you are predisposed to noticing social interactions, you may decide that every person who makes too much eye contact or not enough is up to something. . That’s worst than that. A schizophrenic paranoid is perfectly capable of finding nonsentical relationships between insignificant details (a word you used here, a quirk of a TV anchor there, an article about frogs on the web) and creating a delusional theory on that basis. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-paranoia-such-a-common-symptom-of-mental-illness/632991/24 "2012-08-30T07:18:34Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > People with axis I diagnoses (schizophrenia, bipolar, etc) are very frequently delusional. And for some reason, delusions frequently have paranoid contents, probably because paranoia generally arises from fear, and delusions tend to be quite frightening, because the individual with them recognizes that something is not right between their perceived and actual reality. > > People with axis II diagnoses (the personality disorders like borderlines, antisocials, narcissists, passive-aggressives, etc. etc. etc.) are often paranoid because their overall behavior often estranges them from others, isolates them, and/or makes others hostile, thus giving the person a legitimate to semi-legitimate reason to feel paranoid. This. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-paranoia-such-a-common-symptom-of-mental-illness/632991/25 "2012-08-30T10:55:42Z")
I’ve had an initial assessment by two psychiatrists. Both of them asked about paranoid symptoms. ---
**Author:** ![al27052](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@al27052](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/al27052)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-paranoia-such-a-common-symptom-of-mental-illness/632991/27 "2012-08-30T12:51:22Z")
If you are crazy, people ARE out to get you, in the sense that they want to change you. People cherish their beliefs, and often consider the belief to be an integral part of their self. They defend the belief as if they are defending their own safety. Hence, paranoia. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-paranoia-such-a-common-symptom-of-mental-illness/632991/28 "2012-08-30T14:32:45Z")
I’ve read that the people who are most able to guess what will happen to them in the future are those with mild depression. It’s not those with no depression at all, since they ten to be a little too optimistic. It’s not those with moderate to severe depression, who are far too pessimistic. People with mild depression tend to see problems in their future with approximately the correct amount of worrying. People with what we think of as normal temperments tend to be too optimistic and this may be best in the long run for most people. Being too slightly too optimistic means that you will tend to be willing to go ahead with plans even though you should realize that they have a less than 50% chance of working out. I think the same thing is true of paranoia. The people who are most likely to advance the world are those who are somewhat more likely to see connections than most people. Being able to see new connections in the world is, after all, what science is about. It’s arguably also what art and changing society is about too. Most people don’t see those connections and thus can’t propose anything useful to advance the world. Being too good at seeing connections is also bad. It leads to conspiiracy theories and mental illness. Again, perhaps it’s best in the long run that most people don’t see as many connections as possible, even when those connections are correct. They are what bring stability to the world. So in both cases, most people have very little of some psychological trait that’s usually thought of as bad. They are the ones who bring stability to the world. Then there are those who have that psychological trait to a moderate degree. They are the ones who propose good theories and who see useful connections. The world doesn’t need a huge number of them, just a reasonable number that’s well below a majority. Then there are those with too much of the psychological trait. Their theories are seldom right. The changes they want aren’t usually useful. Society can tolerate a few of them, but too many would be unworkable. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-paranoia-such-a-common-symptom-of-mental-illness/632991/29 "2012-09-01T02:25:27Z")
_I showed this thread to a doctor friend of mine in Maryland with considerable experience in dealing with the mentally ill, and he gave me permission to post his response:_ I have no real evidence for this, but my belief is that to a significant degree, paranoia is a natural and understandable feature of our psychological make-up. Certainly, in moderation, it has adaptive value, fueling the sort of vigilance that can be protective, and thus it might have been an evolutionarily preserved trait. It is also understandable in that there is often some basis to it. It can be a big and hostile world, complete with petty betrayals and feeling victimized by overwhelming forces beyond our control. Both as a species, and on individual, developmental levels consistent with normative processes of maturation, a number of factors have emerged that generally keep paranoia at bay: socialization, trust and faith in others, and adaptive defenses, both intrapsychic and interpersonal. Organic pathology and/or life circumstances can erode these factors, leaving those individuals vulnerable to the emergence of paranoia. In a similar vein, in psychotic states, whether in the context of manic episodes or exacerbations of psychotic disorders (schizophrenia and the like), grandiose delusions are not uncommon. Why don’t folks have similarly prevalent delusions of being, say, a plumber? My conjecture is that the fact of this sort of psychopathology is physiologically determined, but the content might well conform to pretty common fantasies of power and omnipotence, which would be understandable defenses against paranoia, for instance. Yet another example: why are there so many religious delusions in these illnesses? Here, my guess is that when there is an organically-determined breakdown in reality-testing, pathology might preferentially move down a psychological pathway into one of the only domains in which a departure from strict adherence to linear, cause-and-effect thinking is considered normal, namely religious faith. The hypothesized common thread that unites all of these examples is the notion that the psychological content of often physiologically determined symptoms of psychiatric illnesses may well follow a sort of “path of least resistance” model. Even our pathologic states can be shaped by what is familiar, desired, or what meets deeper psychological needs. Again, I have no proof, but it seems to make sense. Although this is not directly related to the issue at hand, I’ve found that in many patients with classic paranoid schizophrenia, the delusional systems have great internal consistency after one has bought into the false, paranoid premises. It can greatly foster rapport in working with these patients when one can successfully extrapolate to something which a given patient strongly believes to be true, even when it hasn’t yet been discussed. Of course, one doesn’t want to endorse the belief that this delusional content is true (validating the content of delusions is a really bad idea!), but patients often feel understood when one can successfully and empathically anticipate what they probably believe based on a sufficient understanding of the patient’s intrapsychic landscape. This sort of rapport-building has a potentially enormous effect on the strength of the therapeutic alliance, and thus the patient’s adherence to recommended treatment interventions and the entire treatment relationship. That can be huge. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-paranoia-such-a-common-symptom-of-mental-illness/632991/30 "2012-09-01T06:01:21Z")
Wow. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-paranoia-such-a-common-symptom-of-mental-illness/632991/31 "2012-09-02T01:09:41Z")
Glad to. ---
**Author:** ![cynyc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@cynyc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cynyc)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-paranoia-such-a-common-symptom-of-mental-illness/632991/32 "2012-09-02T04:57:27Z")
It’s not a “common form” of mental illness. This should be in IMHO. > [@astro](#): > > Paranoia seems to be a very common symptom in many mental illnesses expressed as a belief that people are listening to you, conspiring against you, or generally just out to get you. > > Why is this such a common thread that runs through a variety of mental illnesses. Is there an organic reason for this? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-paranoia-such-a-common-symptom-of-mental-illness/632991/33 "2012-09-02T05:52:13Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > [from enclosed comments by physician] … Why don’t folks have similarly prevalent delusions of being, say, a plumber? My conjecture is that the fact of this sort of psychopathology is physiologically determined, but the content might well conform to pretty common fantasies of power and omnipotence, which would be understandable defenses against paranoia, for instance. … Sounds right to me. I never felt particularly paranoid, but when I had a Type I manic breakout, after things calmed down, a passing shrink said to me “hey, everybody wants to be rich and famous.” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-paranoia-such-a-common-symptom-of-mental-illness/632991/34 "2012-09-02T14:08:07Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Sounds right to me. > > I never felt particularly paranoid, but when I had a Type I manic breakout, after things calmed down, a passing shrink said to me “hey, everybody wants to be rich and famous.” And thanks to Super Mario Brothers, more people do want to be rich and famous plumbers now. My psychiatrist friends make similar points to those made by **Elendil’s Heir**. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-paranoia-such-a-common-symptom-of-mental-illness/632991/35 "2012-09-02T16:00:50Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > …My psychiatrist friends make similar points to those made by **Elendil’s Heir**. 'Twas my Maryland doctor friend, but thanks. ---
**Author:** ![panaccione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@panaccione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panaccione)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-paranoia-such-a-common-symptom-of-mental-illness/632991/36 "2012-09-02T20:02:00Z")
[Territorial Pissings.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMmrvDm-kYU) ---
**Author:** ![stevenova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4bbf92/32.png) [@stevenova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stevenova)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-paranoia-such-a-common-symptom-of-mental-illness/632991/37 "2012-09-02T20:04:32Z")
I think beacause these people deep down, realize they are irrelevant, not very important people, and by having conpsiracies, paranoia, they can trick themselves into being more important than they really are. Conspiracies are how irrelevant people make themselves feel important. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-paranoia-such-a-common-symptom-of-mental-illness/632991.md?page=1)