This is usually called non-clinical paranoia. Lots of people experience mild paranoia at some point in their lives – maybe up to a third of us.

the paranoid thoughts interfere with your everyday life.

Paranoid thoughts can be anything from very mild to very severe and these experiences can be quite different for everybody. Bipolar in order also teaches people this.Paranoia is a symptom of some mental health problems but not a diagnosis itself. It takes a shaman up to 20 years to master these states, live and function within them and use them to their advantage. When one is experiencing these higher states they are in a kind of spirit world, everything seems confusing to them and they become overwhelmed, thoughts become disordered because they do not know what they are experiencing. In shamanic tradition they induce these states and they call what we call psychosis 'the spirit world'. A person with psychosis is experiencing a higher level of consciousness, same goes for mania.

Psychosis/mania and the mind is a lot more complex than most psychiatrists think. Psychosis is normally the tem used for a person who is experiencing delusions, yet psychiatry is any everyone else who has never experienced psychosis is seeing it from a third person perspective in which they can only judge by observation and label it as illness/disease/disorder. Say what you want about religion but spirituality can be a key factor in people's lives without follows religion, Sam Harris has a book on it 'Spirituality without religion. We have become detached from ourselves spiritually. The biggest delusion is Hyper-normality, most of the western world suffer from this on a mass scale. Mood-neutral delusions that are not influenced by mood. For example, when depressed, a person may feel delusions of persecution and when feeling manic, they may feel delusions of grandeur. Mood-congruent delusions – This is delusion that is consistent with the depressed or manic state of the sufferer. Non-bizarre delusion – Refers to delusion such as fear of being followed There are four categories of delusion and these include:īizarre delusion – Refers to delusion that is implausible or bizarre such as alien invasion One of the partners may be the dominant personality who influences the weaker personality into adopting the delusion, in which case the psychosis mainly affects the dominant person, with the other rapidly recovering from the delusions once they are separated from them. This is a rare form of delusion where two people who are usually in a close relationship, are completely isolated from others physically and culturally and share the same delusional system of grandeur or persecution, for example. Induced delusional disorder or folie a’ deux This is called monosymptomatic hypochondriacal psychosis and forms part of somatic delusional disorder. Some individuals may also develop tactile hallucinations and feel the sensation of insects or parasites crawling over their skin. This type of delusion may often lead to multiple consultations with physicians, surgical procedures, depression and even suicide. In this disorder, a person is convinced something is wrong with them. Erotomanic delusional disorder is also referred to as De Clerambault’s Syndrome. Erotomanis often concern a famous person or someone who is in a superior status and usually there is no contact between the patient and the victim, who has never encouraged the patient. This obsession leads to stalking, unnatural jealousy and rage when the object of their affection is seen with their spouse or partners.

In this form of delusion, the patient is often firmly convinced that a person he or she is fixated upon is in love with them. It is sometimes called morbid jealousy or pathological jealousy. Studies have shown that this form of delusion is more common in men than in women. The sufferer usually goes to great lengths to try and find evidence of their partner’s alleged “affairs” and may also resort to a third party such as a private detective to find such evidence. These doubts may be unfounded and can cause severe damage to the relationship. This usually develops due to a fear that a spouse or partner is being unfaithful. For example, they may be convinced they have an exceptional talent, extravagant riches or a special relationship with a prominent person. In this form of delusion, the person believes they are much greater or more influential than they really are. As a result, the sufferer may retaliate violently against the persecution and/or turn to the law and other government agencies for support. In this form, the affected person fears they are being stalked, spied upon, obstructed, poisoned, conspired against or harassed by other individuals or an organization. This is the most common form of delusional disorder. There are several subtypes of delusional disorders and some of these include: Ananya Mandal, MD Reviewed by Sally Robertson, B.Sc.

Paranoid ideation