Skip to main content

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.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How can you get a Ph.D.Scholarship?

Every two weeks or so I am meeting up with my Ph.D supervisors to talk about my research topic. At out last meeting, we finalise my research question... --- 2 Years ago, 1 month after starting my new job, 3 month after finishing my studies, it was clear for me that I wanted to go back to academia. I set up myself to gain a bit of experience and look for a new job. 18 month ago, I had two interviews, one for a knowledge transfer partnership leading to Ph.D with Birmingham City University and one for a Ph.D with Cranfield University on Sustainability and Communications. Deep inside it was not really what I was looking for. 12 month ago, I almost gave up finding the Ph.D. Then, I changed my mind. I systematically send emails to to find the gap where I could jump in 9 month ago I applied for Design Star with the intention to investigate how design for sustainable behaviour and eco-design will contribute to the concept of the Circular Economy. 2 month ago, I started my Ph...

Designers of Money Futures - Permaculture

The latest Permaculture session I had was 'Money Futures'. We discussed the reasons why we need Money, the impact of money on the global and living world. Questions were asked about the other alternatives of money and whether we could do without it. It became clear that the discussion was a difficult one to have as we recognise our needs to belong. We recognise our needs to improve our surroundings. We recognise how much unskilled and clueless we were. We recognise the power of money in making our wishes reality by filling the gap of our own inabilities. Human relationship is probably the most expensive commodity. It forces some to enter the rat-race for happiness and belonging. It is an unfortunate conclusion. Luckily enough, it is not the end of the story. There are many alternatives to money and the gift economy is actually in scale a lot more prominent that people might think. It is not promoted on television but for sure it exists. Join a voluntary group, knock...

Time to listen

Sometimes our own perspective on life may get in the way of what we understand when others speaks. Pause, breathe and really listen. You may learn something. if you are too busy with your own thoughts, you will not even realise what was said. You will probably misinterpret some important signal. So what to do, Pause, breathe, ask further questions before sharing an informed answer based on fact and not your own imagination