paranoia

Paranoia, in psychiatry, is the belief that everything is about the person who is experiencing the paranoia. Paranoid thinking concerns how the paranoid person thinks. For example, a paranoid person may believe people are concerned with everything they are doing. These beliefs can also be persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself. Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety, suspicion, or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoia is distinct from phobias, which also involve irrational fear, but usually no blame.