Psychology & Psychiatry

Posture: how to feel more powerful and confident

Holding wide, expansive postures—known as power poses—were once thought to boost confidence by producing hormonal changes and making us feel psychologically more powerful. Attempts to replicate the hormonal findings have ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Unexpected uncertainty can breed paranoia, researchers find

In times of unexpected uncertainty, such as the sudden appearance of a global pandemic, people may be more prone to paranoia, Yale University researchers suggest in a new study published in the journal eLife.

Health

London cyclists feel paranoid road users are out to get them

A recent study published by researchers from Royal Holloway University of London and King's College London, has found that cyclists in the Capital feel paranoid that other drivers are out to get them when they are on the ...

Medications

Aristada approved for schizophrenia

(HealthDay)—Aristada (aripiprazole lauroxil) extended release injection has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat the disabling brain disorder schizophrenia, the agency said Tuesday in a news release.

Psychology & Psychiatry

Curtailing worry reduces key schizophrenia symptom

Delusions of persecution in psychiatric patients can be reduced with just six sessions of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), a new clinical trial has found. Using CBT in this way could potentially help to prevent mental ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

How cannabis causes paranoia

(Medical Xpress)—The largest study of the effects of the main ingredient of cannabis has shown definitively that it can cause short-term paranoia. The Oxford-led research also, for the first time, identifies psychological ...

Genetics

Genes linked to schizophrenia, bipolar disorder

Broad sweeps of the human genome have exposed genetic mutations that boost the risk of the devastating yet baffling diseases of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to two studies published Sunday.

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Paranoia [ˌpar.rəˈnoɪ.ə] (adjective: paranoid [ˈpar.rə.noɪd]) is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself. Making false accusations and the general distrust of others also frequently accompany paranoia. For example, an incident most people would view as an accident, a paranoid person might make an accusation that it was intentional.

Historically, this characterization was used to describe any delusional state. In modern colloquial use, the term "paranoia" is sometimes misused to describe a phobia. The general lack of blame in phobia disorders sharply differentiates the two. In other words, fearing that something bad or harmful might happen does not in itself imply paranoia. Rather, there is an irrational fear of malice by others (excepting rare cases of schizophrenia).

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