Is the world becoming even more paranoid?

I never quite thought that the negative thoughts going through my mind were signs of paranoia.
After reading Paranoia - the 21st century fear by Daniel Freeman and Jason Freeman, it is clear, I am paranoid like everybody else. I don't believe people want to intentionally harm me but I do recognise being sometimes suspicious. I bring together a set of safety behaviours to get away from any uncomfortable social situations. Unfortunately, the plan sometimes does not work and what I feared all along just become reality.

In the book, the questions asked are as follow:

• is paranoia a modern phenomenon or has it always been with us?
• what causes it?
• and what can we do about it

Media has the powerful role of bringing drama into our lives, security camera are decorating our streets and social media makes virtual reality even more believable. We cannot stop wondering whether paranoia is becoming a more acute modern phenomenon. It has nevertheless always been with us all along and can be triggered by various means (victimisation, isolation, urbanisation, living environment etc.).

Inequality or the perceived gap between rich and the poor are highlighted as having negative effects on individuals. On this last note, my perception is that our attachment to stuff and opinion as a mean to express our status and identity as a mean to oppose ourselves to someone else's status and opinion tend to drive us away from relationship with diverse range of people.
I guess whilst everybody has an opinion (like a arsehole), not everyone goes through a critical examination. opinions are an expression of our own paranoias, and we tend to look for clues to comfort our misconceptions rather than breaking them apart

What can we do about it?

• Make people more aware of the issue
• read the book,
• share it and disccuss it with friends
• switch off TV

At an individual level

• some cognitive behavioural therapy were highlighted as a way to recognise that our paranoid thoughts were unfounded.

Some steps were provided in case individuals could not afford to the therapies:
1) become a detached observer of your fears
2) understand what causes paranoia
3) don't just accept your suspicious thoughts
4) Put your paranoia to the test
5) Let go of your suspicious thughts
6) reduce the time you spend worrying about paranoid thoughts

I would not give all the details on the various steps.
Borrow, buy, read more about paranoia.
If you live in Leicester, I will happily lend it to you - go through streetbank.

Let me know if you liked the article and if you are also aware of your own paranoid thoughts and how you deal with them.