Paranoia

[Hagoshod]

Hello, Animesuki.



Have you ever had that paranoid feeling where you thought everyone was out to get you and your entire reality was waiting to collapse on you at any second?

If so, what tips do you have toward coping with such stresses?

[DonQuigleone]

I've had something similiar occur when I went a long stint without much social interaction. All I can say is, when you get cut off you go a little weird in the head. It's not easy to describe, but you certainly take on unusual thought processes.

[Flinch]

It's not paranoia if you're right.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Hagoshod

Hello, Animesuki.

Have you ever had that paranoid feeling where you thought everyone was out to get you and your entire reality was waiting to collapse on you at any second?

If so, what tips do you have toward coping with such stresses?

Answer 1: there's medication for that. Its a form of anxiety attack...

Answer 2: go lay in a nice meadow and watch the grass grow and bugs amble. Perspective...

Answer 3: how can you be overwrought when there's such a cute picture to look at in your post? Look at the picture.

[synaesthetic]

It's not paranoia if people really are out to get you... r money.

*facepalm*

[Malkuth]

Paranoia... never, but let me add a couple of tips from chronic depression and personality detatchment (trust me (without any valid reason what-so-ever ) the second one sucks big time)...

Originally Posted by Vexx

Answer 1: there's medication for that. Its a form of anxiety attack...

Medication solves absolutely NOTHING. It just help work into what society deems appropriate behaviour, rather then help you be a productive member of it. Still very popular because people are too lazy to deal with the problem in the first place, and like all legal and illegal drugs, there is a whole system financially benefitting from natural deficiencies.

Originally Posted by Vexx

Answer 2: go lay in a nice meadow and watch the grass grow and bugs amble. Perspective...

... and then it strikes you that these bugs are genetically engineered by some pharmaceutical company to bother you, while relaxing because this is all part of their plan to get you... point being that if your mind started playing tricks on you, it is extremely hard to discipline and collect yourself back into common sense that a bug is just a bug... I know this is hard to understand unless you have experienced it.

Originally Posted by Vexx

Answer 3: how can you be overwrought when there's such a cute picture to look at in your post? Look at the picture.

I wonder too

Originally Posted by synaesthetic

It's not paranoia if people really are out to get you... r money.

*facepalm*

But you can never tell which is which when you are paranoid... one thing that gets nerfed is your ability to be subjectional, not only with paranoia, but most delusional mental conditions.

[Miko Miko]

When it's dark and i'm at home alone. I always get REALLY paranoid there's someone behind me. Sometimes I can feel it, that feeling when someone's staring at you. It gets me angry and upset ~ I just put music on to make me feel better!

[Yuno]

If you are serious, there is a therapy of techniques known as DBT or Dialectical Behaviour Techniques. That helps a person cope with many varying psychological issues. Typically dealing with such things. What I typically do if I feel anxious is focus on the sky or on my breathing. There is a technique called box breathing. Taiji also helps a lot too with anxiety, many of their breathing techniques are calming as well.

[DonQuigleone]

I've had my run-ins with depression, it's something that most people (who don't get it) really don't understand. It's not simply a bad mood, and it's not simply that you feel no joy. For me it was actually a feeling of "nothingness", that everything was pointless. Extreme apathy, and very existential. And that's not getting into the physical feelings. You have no energy to do anything. So not only do you think anything is worth doing, even if you do try and do something, it feels like an extreme effort. And then you get into a cycle of self oathing because you're doing so little.

From there it's easy to get into Paranoid thinking. Naturally we are the center of our perception, so we tend to think that when something occurs in our vicinity it has something to do with us. I never felt like people were out to get me, but I sometimes felt people were looking at me, laughing at me etc. Which pushes you even further inwards. This kinda thing is characterized by such reinforcing "cycles".

As for dealing with it, I personally dislike the idea of medicating (though perhaps in extreme cases where there are clear physical causes). I think the most important thing is to talk about how you feel to someone, preferably someone close or a councillor or psychologist. Just vocalising how you feel to someone makes you feel better, and can help you get to the root of your feelings. There isn't any kind of "cure" for depression though.

[Yuno]

Well said Don, this is exactly right and I feel that many don't understand how complex and difficult mental illness can be. They often write it off or tell us to cheer up, buck up, or get better. This apathy or lack of engaged validation causes me to recoil even further into my shell. What is more difficult is when one's mental illness is highly stigmatized by society. The sheer mentioning it causes all sorts of negative perceptions.

A lot of times people see the persons behaviour as the person, rather than it as simply the illness, so it's easy to suffer even more. I find that happens a lot with me. I have no real life friends or family for many of these reasons and for many more complex reasons. However, the pain is still similar, it is a feeling of distance. The emptiness can be so crushing so weakening that nihilism can often take root.

Sadly there is no cure for my illnesses either. I was born with an unusual limbic system and my amygdala doesn't quite work right. Those with some scientific background can guess what I go through, but I shall not utter it here. Thank you for explaining your view.

[Tsuyoshi]

A few quick solutions:

1. Lay down while listening to music. Doesn't matter what kind of music so long as it's something that's capable of getting your mind off of things. Weird as it may seem, artists like Kamelot and Apocalytpica tend to make me more relaxed, but that depends entirely on your taste of music.

2. Exercise. Go out for a run, swimming if you can (afford it), lift some iron, whichever form of exercise gets your blood running and heart beating. It's good for stress relief and general fitness. It's also a nice way of meeting people if you're already naturally sociable, but it's not a must.

3. Get involved. Join groups of people who share a common interest. If there are such groups around your area, it's a good idea to research them, see what they're about, where they're located with respect to you and what sort of people go there.

4. Seconding Vexx: look at the picture

Tai-chi is also good for breathing exercises, and mighty brilliant for your fitness. Yoga works as well in that respect, so if you can find anything along those lines, do give it a shot.

As others have said, do avoid medication if you can. What that does is it tends to dull the pain, but it doesn't ever completely eliminate it unless you do something about it yourself. The important thing with dealing with Paranoia is to stay active. If you do nothing, the feeling of not being able to do anything grows until you can't handle it anymore. That's the reason why so many who go through depression end up as drug addicts. Just look at a number of out of work celebrities (Christian Slater, Tony Stark) and you'll get the idea. So what's more important than anything else is to be active with yourself and others. It helps building confidence and developing a general sense of trust of other people.

Don said everything else that's important so I'll leave it at that here

[Vexx]

I'd like to point out I've been clinically depressed (associated with ADD-passive)... it doesn't mean I can't try to inject humor into a discussion on it.

"there's medication for that" is a running pharmacy gag (my wife is a pharmacist) ... because a lot of the medication pushed by Big Pharma makes a condition worse for SOME people (like those drugs for depression they tout on tv that can cause suicidal thoughts .. or spontaneous combustion). Basically, they're pushing crap out with intense marketing because it makes them more money than fixing the stuff that people really need... they don't want to cure problems, they want to *manage* them (more predictable revenue streams). Most pharmacists I know have observed this trend (it didn't always exist btw).

"lay in a meadow" ... that's a solution from Bloom County: the dandelion patch.

"look at the picture of the happy brightly dressed girl" ... well, that's half-serious. Choosing sensory inputs affects how your brain works, it changes the chemicals the brain bathes in. Watch depressing/anxiety/fear subject material constantly tends to amplify those feelings (watch the evening "local" news techniques for gripping you to stay through the next commercial break). I figure half the population watching the paranoid/fear/hate spew out of a certain news channel are legitimately mentally ill.

Tsuyoshi has some excellent non-pharma solutions. Exercise, meditation, activities that invoke a lot of focus and concentration help immensely.

And as Don says, maintaining a broad social network is excellent "medicine" ... we're at our core social animals who thrive best in groups.

[Yuno]

Indeed, I didn't take what you said as ill humoured at all. My case manager also jokingly says "There is a medication for that." When he wishes to tease me. Specifically with my obsession with various things, and my thought process being out of the normal. The rest seemed plausable. Laying in a meadow would be really soothing for me. I find when I feel nature around me I feel somewhat apart of something.

As for pictures and things, I tend to wish that I was there or that happy so it doesn't always work for me.

As for execrise I have to be careful, but sometimes I use Taiji as mentioned and various other internal styles of martial arts. They're really good at cultivating good health and energy so I feel like I want to do more things. I also try to busy myself with something, do the dishes that piled up due to my shutting down, or the laundry, or something of that nature.

There is a technique in DBT called "Opposite Action" which is quite useful. If I want to isolate or whatever I try to do the opposite of that decision. So I try to go for a walk, or try to go somewhere where I will encounter a few people. I don't do well in groups so this is best for me. Music can be soothing for me too, and I have a few tracks that are a sure success in calming me.

[Xellos-_^]

the question you ask isn't, are you paranoid but Are you paranoid enough.

[DonQuigleone]

Originally Posted by Tsuyoshi

A few quick solutions:

1. Lay down while listening to music. Doesn't matter what kind of music so long as it's something that's capable of getting your mind off of things. Weird as it may seem, artists like Kamelot and Apocalytpica tend to make me more relaxed, but that depends entirely on your taste of music.

2. Exercise. Go out for a run, swimming if you can (afford it), lift some iron, whichever form of exercise gets your blood running and heart beating. It's good for stress relief and general fitness. It's also a nice way of meeting people if you're already naturally sociable, but it's not a must.

3. Get involved. Join groups of people who share a common interest. If there are such groups around your area, it's a good idea to research them, see what they're about, where they're located with respect to you and what sort of people go there.

4. Seconding Vexx: look at the picture

I think those work for putting yourself in a good mood temporarily, but they don't do much to get at the core of your issues. Also, it's often a lot of work (when depressed) to get the kind of discipline for it.

As others have said, do avoid medication if you can. What that does is it tends to dull the pain, but it doesn't ever completely eliminate it unless you do something about it yourself. The important thing with dealing with Paranoia is to stay active. If you do nothing, the feeling of not being able to do anything grows until you can't handle it anymore. That's the reason why so many who go through depression end up as drug addicts. Just look at a number of out of work celebrities (Christian Slater, Tony Stark) and you'll get the idea. So what's more important than anything else is to be active with yourself and others. It helps building confidence and developing a general sense of trust of other people.

I'd tend to agree. Big trap is to fall into a pattern of "doing nothing". It's extremely easy. What to do is more difficult, but it makes you feel better when you know you're confronting things.

Originally Posted by Vexx

I'd like to point out I've been clinically depressed (associated with ADD-passive)... it doesn't mean I can't try to inject humor into a discussion on it.

I'm all for humour. I found Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei to be generally on the money. The whole series reeks of depressive thinking. Taking stupid things out of proportion, compulsive behaviours, and general patheticness.

And as Don says, maintaining a broad social network is excellent "medicine" ... we're at our core social animals who thrive best in groups.

I think it's probably the most important thing. The natural inclination (at least for me) is to turn inwards, and when you do that you become more dysfunctional and "weird". For instance, I only got attacks of Paranoia after going long periods without significant social interaction. Talking to people helps keep you "grounded".

I actually don't mind the bad moods nearly as much as that lack of energy and motivation. That's the real killer, as that pushes you further into your hole.

Suicide is the other thing of course, I actually did contemplate suicide, simply because I saw no reason to live any longer. I didn't contemplate it because I thought my life was awful, but because there wasn't any joy in it. My life was pointless, so I saw no reason not to top myself. Fortunately I never had the guts to go through with it. Though I did sometimes stand on bridges in a rather contemplative mood.

[ChainLegacy]

All the above posters have some great suggestions/ideas. I'd like to add what I know may be helpful based on my knowledge of nutrition.

Omega-3 fatty acids, specifically EPA and DHA as they are being linked scientifically to both brain function, depression, and mood (as well as a whole host of other benefits). Can be found in high concentrations in sardines and other oily fish. Additionally the other healthy omega-3's such as ALA can be found in flax oil, walnut oil, or hemp oil.

Magnesium: supplementation may be necessary as it is estimated the majority of Westerners are magnesium deficient. Magnesium helps regulate a number of essential functions and there is growing evidence of its powerful effects in mitigating anxiety/nervousness/insomnia. Certain meats and nuts are good sources, as well as seafood and avocados.

L-Taurine, L-Theanine, L-Theobromine, L-Carnitine: These acids have all been preliminarily linked to heightened relaxation, satisfaction, and calm. Taurine and Carnitine are primarily found in meats, whereas Theanine is found in green tea and Theobromine in chocolate/tea.

Vitamin D: Deficiencies are being linked to depression and mood disorders. Can be obtained through intermittent sunlight exposure and dietarily. Some great sources (imo) are sardines (which are really a nutritional powerhouse) and mushrooms (which also give the sometimes hard-to-find selenium).

B Vitamins (all are very important and have varying levels of influence on mental state.) I'd say niacin, pantothenic acid, the various B-6 and B-12 compounds are most relevant for battling paranoid symptoms. B vitamins can be found in many foods, again sardines are a nice source especially for B-12, I additionally like avocados for rich B-6 content (and a whole smattering of other nutrients).

You may also enjoy trying valerian tea. Historically used as a sedative, whenever I drink it I become very relaxed.

If anyone wants anymore specific links with information ask me. Remember, you are what you eat... Our bodies are like chem labs, and without the right chemicals the proper reactions won't occur. Don't discount the profound effect diet can have on mental health.

[Yuno]

Whoa! ChainLegacy this is a really good list here. I will have to copy this down and take note of it in my recipes! Yes, the activities part is only one part of coping, nutrition is important too as well as sleep. With my disorders if I don't eat right, sleep a lot, or be active I suffer worse than if I was doing everything right. However, this extensive vitamin list is just the thing I need.

[Nightbat®]

I only have cases of "Murphy paranoia"

translates to: When things go wrong, I start to draw up the 'worst case scenario'

Then again, I ended up being right so many times, I rather wish it was paranoia

[Hagoshod]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Answer 3: how can you be overwrought when there's such a cute picture to look at in your post? Look at the picture.

I was trying to be ironic.

[Malkuth]

In between, mental illness is a very inappropriate term, since being paranoid, depressed, etc. can be both a temporal as well as a natural state of mind. Just being rare does not make it an illness, as a counter example, it is not considered an illness to force yourself into behaving in a certain delusional and/or psychotic way because post death some red-skinned horny humanoids are going to boil you for the rest of eternity... or believe that if you massacre an ass-load of innocents, butt-naked virgins are going to be at your command for the same duration... these are way more unnatural and definitely far more dangerous mental conditions (still not called illnesses) than being clinically depressed or paranoid, and they are prevelant to some extent in 90% of the population... maybe more if we count in undeveloped countries

EDIT: Post tries to keep up the light-hearted and humorous spirit of Vexx and Tsuyoshi