Paranoid Personality Disorder: Causes, Symptoms And Treatment

People with paranoid personality disorder have a series of characteristics in common that identify them. Between the symptoms or characteristics of paranoid personality The most common that they present are the following:

• They suspect that others are going to harm them. They tend to be even unjustifiably suspicious of people. They believe that they are going to be deceived or taken advantage of. For example, if they have a partner, they think that they may be unfaithful, they may distrust their friends and doubt their loyalty, etc.
• Emotional distancing. They put up an emotional barrier towards others. They behave in a cold and extremely egocentric manner with the aim of avoiding harm at all costs.
• They isolate themselves from others. They avoid having more contact with others, whether with friends, co-workers, family, etc. All this due to his avoidant and distant behavior based on the fear of being emotionally hurt.
• Attitude of unjustified contempt towards others. They may have attitudes of contempt towards other people even when the situation does not warrant it and the other people have not done anything against them either.
• They don’t trust others. They think that the people they associate with can easily betray them and share their secrets without their consent.
• They are very spiteful. They tend to hold grudges and resentment towards others. If a person slights them or hurts them in some way, they tend to exaggerate the event and hold a grudge against them for a long time.
• They feel attacked by others. They are constantly on the defensive and perceive malicious intentions in others where they think their reputation will be attacked.
• Health problems. Because they distrust everyone and even health personnel, they tend to have constant health problems, since they do not like to go for consultations due to their distrust.
• Difficulties in the work area. It is difficult for them to stay in the same workplace for a long time, especially when they have to constantly interact with many people due to their distant attitude. They may also feel exploited and devalued by their superiors.

This type of personality disorder usually begins in early adulthood and occurs more frequently in men than in women. It is unknown exactly what causes this type of condition to appear. However, so far it has been found that for a person to be more likely to have it, there are certain factors that can influence whether it occurs. Some of them are the following:

• geneticto:nor it has been determined whether this type of disorder is hereditary or not. However, it has been found that people who have families with other types of psychotic disorders may be more likely to develop it.
• Negative experiences: people who have had negative experiences in childhood. Children who have lived in an unfavorable family environment, since they have been exposed to a lot of tension and hatred from adults, which generates a lot of insecurity and they begin to develop paranoid behaviors. Childhood abuse is one of the experiences that can leave its mark and change your way of thinking throughout your life.
• Constant stress: It has been found that it is common for a paranoid personality disorder to appear in people who have been exposed to constant stressful situations. For example, prisoners of war and refugees are more likely to suffer from this disorder.

It is difficult for the person who suffers from this type of disorder to undergo treatment due to their high degree of distrust towards others and, as mentioned above, even towards healthcare personnel. It is also difficult for the person with this disease to be aware that they have it, so if they do not voluntarily undergo treatment, it will be very difficult or almost impossible for them to improve. However, when the person is aware of all the consequences that suffering from this disorder brings and wants to overcome it, the chances of starting treatment increase exponentially, whether they finish it or not.

It is necessary for the person who suffers from a paranoid personality disorder to receive Psychological attention. The objective of psychological therapy will be aimed, mainly, at reducing the symptoms associated with this disease, carrying out a cognitive restructuring where all those negative and irrational thoughts about others are modified, identifying the obstacles that are presented to make a change, modify the perception they have in the face of criticism to a more positive one and train the person in social skills so that they learn to relate to others assertively.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that depending on the individual situation of each person, some will require the use of drugs and others will not. The professional will be in charge of assessing and determining whether this is necessary or not, what type of drugs will be administered and the correct dose. Generally, they are prescribed antipsychotics to eliminate delusional and irrational ideas and their erroneous perception of reality.

This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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