Paranoia: Causes And Signs Of This Type Of Delusional Thinking
Paranoia is one of the concepts associated with mental disorders that have to do with delusions, that is, the crazy ideas in which one believes with an intensity that goes beyond what is reasonable.
Due to its striking and enigmatic nature, paranoia, as a phenomenon, has aroused the interest of many people who have begun to use the term as another component of their vocabulary. In these cases, this word is applied to day-to-day situations experienced with friends, family and acquaintances. However, it must be taken into account that it is a concept from the clinical field of psychology and psychiatry, and is used only in very specific cases. Let’s see what it really consists of.
Paranoia is a style of thinking associated with mental disorders that It is characterized by giving shape to self-referential delusions This means that whoever expresses paranoid behavior has a tendency to believe that everything that happens and that he is aware of occurs because of the same fact, a truth that normally tries to be hidden by mysterious entities (supernatural or not) but that oneself is able to see.
For example, the belief that someone is inserting coded messages into television advertisements to brainwash us is a delusion very typical of this type of mental state. Other examples: there is someone listening to us through the sockets, a pigeon is following us with a microphone hidden in the feathers, etc.
Delusions of persecution are typical of paranoia since, by recognizing all kinds of signs in the details of what surrounds us, we come to the conclusion that there is someone very interested in following our steps discreetly, camouflaging their trail very well.
It must be taken into account that although the use of the term “paranoia” is relatively loose and refers to a type of thinking and behavior, In practice it usually refers to delusional disorder, or paranoid psychosis a type of alteration related to the group of disorders close to schizophrenia.
How this delusional thought works
The basic characteristics of paranoia are the following.
1. Hostility, defensive attitude and persecution mania
People who express paranoia They constantly see reasons not to trust almost anyone, since anyone could be a potential attacker or spy. This also makes it very difficult to care for these people from a clinical perspective in the most serious cases.
2. Adoption of protection routines
Although it does not occur in all cases of paranoia, it is very common for the person to adopt certain characteristic habits and routines whose purpose is solely defense from external threats For example, wrapping your head in aluminum foil is a popular option among those who believe that their thoughts can be “read” or “stolen” by someone.
3. Cognitive rigidity
Another of the main differences between paranoia and other types of mental states not related to disorders is that the first is based on a clear cognitive rigidity, or inability to self-correct
When predictions based on delusions do not come true, another explanation is simply sought, the only requirement of which must be that it does not go against the main idea that structures the paranoia.
That means that, as long as this criterion is met, new explanations can be as convoluted and unreasonable as the others.
The causes of paranoia
Paranoia is one of the symptoms associated with psychosis, but this fact, by itself, does not say much about its causes. In reality, paranoia as a symptom can be due to different types of mental disorders or purely neurological problems. There are different theories that try to explain why this pattern of thinking appears.
1. Emergence due to learning and contingencies
Environmental and social influence can cause thousands of people to express patterns of paranoia without becoming part of very severe clinical cases. Various conspiracy theories for example, can be understood as explanatory schemes that resist all types of contrary evidence and that, on the other hand, are based on an entity (physical or organizational), which has its own political and economic interests, as well as the power of manipulate what happens on the planet at will.
Thus, indoctrination and integration into some social circles can, by themselves, make people accustomed to thinking through paranoia or something very close to it.
2. Due to clinical disorders and complications
Normally, our ability to think and create abstract concepts is conceived as an ability that turns us into intelligent beings, highly prepared to adapt to new challenges. The flexibility of our cognition allows us to routinely find innovative solutions no matter how changing the environment.
How do we manage to cope so well with these variable and to some extent unpredictable situations? To do this, we automatically use one of the abilities in which we are most skilled thanks to the fact that we have a highly developed brain: the ability to recognize patterns and regularities in all kinds of stimuli Thanks to it we bring order to what would otherwise be a chaos of perceptions and memories.
Furthermore, this reorganization of information is carried out both in the most concrete aspects of perception and with the most abstract concepts, the ideas through which we interpret reality through what is known as cognitive schemes. For example, it is very easy, and even automatic, to detect patterns of musicality in certain sounds, or to recognize faces where there are only spots, but it is also common to recognize intentions in the actions of others.
Paranoia is what happens when this ability that we show when it comes to recognizing underlying ideas and perceptions that support all the others becomes pathological, a sign that we impose a very forced story to explain reality, instead of assuming that it does not exist. We can anticipate everything and limit ourselves to experiencing our experiences, assuming that there will always be doubts to resolve.
So, certain mental disorders can alter the functioning of cognitive processes that already exist in every human being can “overreach”, although it is not known how this happens.
3. Due to brain failure
Some brain injuries They may be related to specific types of paranoid thinking. Capgras syndrome, for example, consists of a tendency to believe that friends and family have been replaced by other people physically identical to the first, and is believed to be caused by damage to the connections between the limbic system and areas of the cortex. cerebral.
