Paranoia is a broad psychiatric term. It is a diagnosis. Paranoia can also be part of other psychiatric diagnoses like schizophrenia or Dementia. Paranoia can be simply a manifestation of a troubled or disrupted mind. At its root, paranoia is a mental disorder or brain dysfunction that creates unfounded or exaggerated distrust of others, sometimes reaching delusional proportions.
Suspicion is a symptom of paranoia. Suspiciousness is the state or feeling of having no confidence or certainty about something. An element of suspicion is trust (or distrust).
Trust is assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. The breakdown of trust is (Distrust).
Your world is based on trust. If trust didn’t exist you could not depend on the future. A world without trust is a dystopian existence where life and wellbeing is in question at every turn. Although you could exist without trust, it would be very difficult to function.
Meaningful human relationships are based on trust. This is what makes marriage appealing because marriage is a formalized union based on an articulated contract of love and trust (until death do us part). You can’t have love without trust. You can, however, have trust without love, as is the case if you trust an object to be dependable. You trust your new car that it will start in the morning. You don’t love your new car even though you might feel attached to it. In human relationships the two terms, trust and love, generally go together.
What happens when trust breaks down?
Steve and Marie are a long-term couple. They married in their 20’s and both value the contentment that comes from their union. Early on, they decided not to have children. Both professionally driven, they felt children would detract from their professional goals. In their 40’s, Steve and Marie started to take their relationship for granted, spending less time together, and it was during this time that Marie became friendly with a co-worker, Scott. For a while, Steve didn’t give the friendship between Marie and Scott too much thought, but some small signs started to appear for Steve that Marie and Scott had become more serious with one another. For one, Marie would talk on and on about Scott. How Scott had many interests in common with her. Marie went to a 5-day conference with Scott and after the conference Marie seemed to act differently. In Scott’s view, she was less inclined to interact with him at home, Marie also said she was losing her sex interest (which she attributed to age changes). Scott started to become suspicious. He asked Marie, straight on, if she was falling in love with Scott. Marie denied this vigorously and became angry that Scott would even consider such an idea. Marie’s defensiveness was simply another clue for Scott that something was wrong with their relationship, that Marie was now in love with Scott. With this idea in mind, Steve started paying closer attention to Marie’s activities. Who she talked to on her phone, messages she sent on her laptop. He did this quietly so as not to arouse Marie’s concerns. The more he investigated it, the more it seemed to him that Marie was having an extra-marital affair with Scott.
Steve is experiencing emotional turbulence. Even though he has very limited evidence, he feels he can no longer trust Marie. He wonders if he can still even love her especially if Marie has another love interest.
When Steve came to see me he complained of headaches, nausea, couldn’t sleep at night, felt depressed. After several sessions I learned what was really bothering Steve.
What is the consequence if Marie is in love with Scott?
How could Steve carry on normally knowing that his spouse of more than 20 years is cheating on him? If she is cheating on him now, had this happened before?
How can Marie ever re-build with Steve the trust that is lost?
In this situation, the environment (or another person) is acting to erode the trust between a married couple. It underscores how important trust is to wellbeing and happiness. Trust can easily be taken for granted. But, when it is lost, that’s when a person’s world falls apart.
But, What if Steve is wrong? What if this is all in his head? It’s not clear that Scott and Marie are in love. Could this be something else such as Steve’s uncertainty about himself and whether he thinks he is a good partner for Marie?
This is the dilemma of suspicion.
Delusion is a central element of paranoia. It is an idiosyncratic belief or impression that is maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational thought.
Delusion is a symptom of mental disorder. Such as “Paranoid Delusion.”
What causes a delusion?
The March 22, 2021 New York Times (The Daily) podcast link below is the story of a delusion caused by the COVID virus.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/podcasts/the-daily/covid-psychosis-mental.html
Ivan Agerton is 50 years old. He lives on Bainbridge Island outside of Seattle with his wife, Emily and their three children…”…it was like a light switch. It happened this fast. This intense paranoia hit me…And then, it steadily got worse. Every single car that drove by, I was convinced that they were surveilling me.”
Ivan conjectures that his suspiciousness is unfounded. But, still, he feels suspicious, even paranoid. The fact that a delusion can be caused when brain chemistry is disrupted by the COVID virus indicates that we are wired biologically to feel suspiciousness towards others or our world.
Science has even identified where paranoia exists in the brain…”paranoia is related to higher resting neuronal activity in the amygdala, as well as in broader sensory and frontal regions…of the brain”
Can you train yourself to be more trusting?
This is an intriguing question. The answer involves asking whether it is possible to shape your whole “world view.” A challenge clients face is altering “world view” is how do you do such a thing?
Some people, for good reasons, might view their world as hostile or unsafe. This is frequently the case when a person has experienced trauma in their past. To adapt to a trauma, people frequently choose to be less trusting of others or circumstances. This approach can be beneficial because it prevents you from getting repeatedly hurt. But, the down side of being more cautious is that it can turn global especially when you start avoiding people or circumstances where you believe there is even the slightest risk for re-experiencing a previous trauma.
In a later entry, I will discuss strategies that people can learn to diminish trauma by re-envisioning a neutral or positive world.