How to Manage Paranoia | Advice Series

We are starting a new advice segment responding to questions or scenarios submitted by our viewers. In this video, I respond to this submission:

“Do you have any recommendations on how to deal with paranoia? I cannot shake the notion that my partner and my psychiatrist are spying on me and are secretly seething mad at me. I am terrified at what they might do. What can I do to make this better?”

I provide my own experience with this as well as advice I've learned from trying to navigate it myself.

I have a background as a social worker and of course have my own experience navigating living with schizoaffective disorder. In these segments I try to bridge together these two perspectives. However I am not a medical practitioner so all advice is purely based off my own experiences and should not be taken as medical advice.

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#schizophrenia #livingwellwithschizophrenia #schizoaffectivedisorder #mentalhealth #paranoia #psychosis

[LivingWellAfterSchizophrenia]

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[gracie]

I don’t have schizophrenia but I have multiple conditions including severe OCD. I’ve started developing paranoia and it’s so scary and embarrassing. I worry I am being investigated either criminally or to be exposed for past wrongs. It sucks.

[vTHE_HiTMANv]

Anxiety and paranoia is just something that kept us alive back when we first romed the earth....now we live in a world too easy it creates more problems. Hard times create hard people, hard people create easy times, easy times make soft people. Wherever you focus your energy is exactly where your thoughts will go.

The thing that helps me the most is staying in the moment and just dealing with whats infront of me....stop trying to control things you cant touch...emrace your feelings and make solutions not problems Train your brain! Work out, eat healthy, stay put your head and in the moment, surrpund yourself with positive energy and understand the storm cant last forever hard times dont last only hard people.... You decide weather you want to suffer or evolve.

[layotheleprechaun]

Journaling helps me to be rational when paranoid

[Country-Gal-at-Heart]

I didn't realise this was part of paranoia. I am struggling and totally believe my mental health team are plotting against me because they hate me and they are trying to kill me with a new mood stabilizer medication.
I'm 54 years old and was diagnosed with bipolar years ago but only recently now been diagnosed with Schizoaffective disorder.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and support.

[saffron]

Paranoia literally sucks 😑
I remember when my paranoia was on peek, I won't even trust my own parents. Always thought they had an ulterior motive behind everything. Which sucked cause your parents are supposed to be the ones you can trust the most, so I felt so alone and lonely all the time.

[shoeboxscience]

It’s strangely comforting to feel I’m not alone in having paranoid delusions. I have major depression disorder. Even when I’m not in a psychotic type state I still get paranoid at work that people are talking about me all the time and planning on firing me. It helps me to keep busy; I just wrote an essay about my cat, while at work yesterday and that kept my mind occupied on a slow day. It helps me to “reality check” with my partner (I’m lucky I don’t often get paranoid of him).

[Satellite_Of_Love]

Thank you so much for posting this. Paranoia can feel so overwhelming. My attacks tend to happen at night, when I can't sleep and my husband works the overnight shift. I'm always open to learning better coping skills.

[hcdh]

Thank you as always for what you do. It’s so hard to find honest but hopeful perspectives on this topic. You balance it so well and I’ve been so grateful to you this year.

[RCPMK]

It is fascinating to me how real it can feel compared to when I’m non symptomatic.

Even on my best days I still really struggle with thinking that coworkers, neighbours, etc are talking behind my back or looking sideways at me. If someone I know even brushes me off or doesn’t return a txt I will have intense anxiety and obsess about it until I talk to them next and confirm that they don’t hate me/mad at me. And even though thought broadcasting for the most part isn’t a symptom I have I still somehow believe people hate me or know that I thought something bad about them

[bugbean]

I can relate to the door example so much but because of complex trauma. Isn't it fascinating how different diagnoses can make you feel so similarly? I'm glad that my therapist picks up on these things immediately too, helps a lot!

[stevec]

My daughter will be 30 this month & has lost a decade of her life already to mental illness has been diagnosed as schizoaffective, but she believes she is more of a paranoid schizophrenic which may be a perceptive insight by her into her condition. She is in a mental healthcare facility and does well for a long time until paranoia takes over and destroys her progress. In the coming weeks decisions will be made concerning if it looks like she will ever be able to live on her own again. The thing is that she likes where she is at now, but can't stay because it is not a long-term facility, because she feels "safe" there.

[LarsPop-Tartus]

It’s a natural response— you are vulnerable due to your condition and your trying to protect yourself

[RinEMV]

I experience this too. It’s helpful to hear the experience of others to know that I’m not alone.

[DerangedMerger]

Does anyone know a similar channel about major depressive disorder, persistent depressive disorder and/or generalized anxiety disorder? Where someone nice, like Lauren shares their experiences. It would be very helpful and interesting for me.

[cory]

for me its like life becomes unreal and the paranoid fixation encompasses my psyche fully. I start to perceive their eyes on me in a metaphysical way and its all I can feel

[sourgummiez]

I love this length of hair on you 😍😍😍😍😍😍 it’s looks sooo good! Such a stunning mama ❤️❤️❤️

[sandy]

Yeah I completely agree with the fact that is crucial to first address the how the person is feeling instead of trying to disprove the dilution. I also thing that is required empathy, love and a great sense of really want to help in order to be a good metal health provider. I also have the impression that the scenario you pose proves the degree of empathy and humanity on the side of your mental health specialist.

[rogerlawrencewhite]

TY again for helping me be able to understand and better help my GF who has schizophrenia and had occasional bouts of paranoia, I wanted to ask if there are grounding excercises that you find favor with and can be done with a partner, so that I can help her be more focused as that is one of her challenges and I’d like to be able to be more helpful and understand more. TY for all your videos as they are helpful, I still have a lot more to watch with my GF as she watches them with me half the time but she has a great deal of respect ( as do I ) for what your accomplishing with this channel as it really has helped thousands of people. TY again

[HasabeMizurukara]

I'm Bipolar but I find many of your videos so so helpful.