Paranoia

In psychiatry, paranoia is a condition in which a person develops erroneous perceptions that others intend to cause them harm. A paranoid person may believe people are concerned with everything they are doing, or are talking about them, and these beliefs can take the form of persecutory beliefs or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat. Paranoia is an instinct or thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety, suspicion or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality, and it differs from phobia in that phobias generally do not involve blame directed at others. False accusations and a general distrust of other people frequently accompany paranoia, and paranoid individuals often misinterpret neutral or accidental events as intentional threats. Paranoia is described as a central symptom of psychosis.