Symptom: Paranoia

Introduction: Paranoia

Paranoia is a type of delusion, a firmly held but nevertheless unrealistic belief. Paranoia is a persecutory delusion that someone will harm you in some way, whether physically, mentally or emotionally.

» Review Causes of Paranoia: full list

Causes of Paranoia:

The following medical conditions are some of the possible causes of Paranoia. There are likely to be other possible causes, so ask your doctor about your symptoms.

• Normal personality - people are diverse and some people have more paranoid beliefs or beliefs in conspiracy theories than other people.
• Cannabis intoxication
• Marijuana intoxication
• Schizophrenia
• Schizoid personality disorder
• Schizoaffective disorder
• Delusional disorders
• Social phobia - excessive concern about other people "watching" or "judging" is like paranoia, but is not true paranoia.
• Binswanger's disease

See full list of 31 causes of Paranoia

» Review Causes of Paranoia: full list

Causes of Types of Paranoia:

Review the causes of these more specific types of Paranoia:

• Severe paranoid reaction
• Hearing voices (7 causes)

More types of Paranoia

Paranoia: Multiple Symptom Checker

Listed below are some combinations of symptoms associated with Paranoia, as listed in our database. Visit the Multiple Symptoms Checker, to add and remove symptoms and research your condition.

Multiple Symptom Checker - Other Symptoms

• Paranoia: Multiple Symptom Checker

Multiple Symptom Checker Combinations

• Paranoia and Mental problems (27 causes)
• Paranoia and Behavioral symptoms (26 causes)
• Paranoia and Delusions (26 causes)
• Paranoia and Personality symptoms (25 causes)
• Paranoia and Society problems (23 causes)
• Paranoia and Emotional symptoms (21 causes)
• Paranoia and Hallucinations (20 causes)
• Paranoia and Depressive symptoms (18 causes)
• Paranoia and Anxiety (15 causes)
• Paranoia and Digestive symptoms (15 causes)
• Paranoia and Muscle symptoms (15 causes)
• Paranoia and Nerve symptoms (14 causes)
• Paranoia and Seizures (14 causes)
• Paranoia and Head symptoms (13 causes)
• Paranoia and Heart symptoms (12 causes)
• Paranoia and Movement symptoms (12 causes)
• Paranoia and Muscle spasms (12 causes)
• Paranoia and Sensations (12 causes)
• Paranoia and Spasms (12 causes)
• Paranoia and Weakness (11 causes)

See full list of 590 Multiple Symptom Checker combinations related to Paranoia

Home Diagnostic Testing and Paranoia

Home medical tests possibly related to Paranoia:

• Mental Health: Home Testing:
  • Home Emotional Stress Tests

Causes of General Symptom Types

Research the causes of these more general types of symptom:

• Delusions (81 causes)
• Mental problems (1944 causes)
• Behavioral symptoms (2767 causes)
• Personality symptoms (2477 causes)

Causes of Similar Symptoms to Paranoia

Research the causes of these symptoms that are similar to, or related to, the symptom Paranoia:

• Delusions (81 causes)

Diagnostic Guides for Paranoia

Medical Books Excerpts Read excerpts from published book sections related to Paranoia from the following published medical books for more detailed information about Paranoia. Free access (no registration): read all online diagnostic book sections about Paranoia

Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Misdiagnosis and Paranoia

Schizophrenia often has misdiagnosed hidden cause: The book "Preventing Misdiagnosis of Women" reports on a study citing that 83% of people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia actually had brain lesions (i.e. brain tumors) or temporal lobe seizures. See ...read more »

Cushing's disease can be mistaken for depression: Cushing's disease (or similarly Cushing's syndrome) is a possible misdiagnosis for a person diagnosed with depression. It is an endocrine disorder with many depressive-like...read more »

Manic-depressive (bipolar) disorder often misdiagnosed: Bipolar disorder, also called manic-depressive disorder, is often misdiagnosed before reaching a correct diagnosis. Some of the common misdiagnoses include depression and schizophrenia...read more »

Epilepsy misdiagnosed as schizophrenia: The book "Preventing Misdiagnosis of Women" reports on a case of a woman diagnosed with schizophrenia, but later diagnosed...read more »

Simple hearing loss can be misdiagnosed: Elderly patients can be misdiagnosed owing to symptoms of paranoia, when the underlying cause is really simple hearing loss. Due to their inability to...read more »

Various mental health symptoms caused by rare epilepsy: Temporal lobe epilepsy is a less common form of epilepsy that does not have the typical physical seizures. Patients can suffer...read more »

Rare seizure-less epilepsy misdiagnosed as various conditions: A complex partial seizure disorder, such as temporal lobe epilepsy can be misdiagnosed as various conditions. Some of the...read more »

Undiagnosed stroke leads to misdiagnosed aphasia: BBC News UK reported on a man who had been institutionalized and treated for mental illness because he suffered from sudden inability to speak. This was initially misdiagnosed as a "nervous breakdown" and...read more »

Dementia may be a drug interaction: A common scenario in aged care is for a patient to show mental decline to dementia. Whereas this can, of course, occur due to various medical conditions, such as a stroke or Alzheimer's disease, it can also...read more »

ADHD under-diagnosed in adults: Although the over-diagnoses of ADHD in children is a well-known controversy, the reverse side related to adults. Some adults can...read more »

Bipolar disorder misdiagosed as various conditions by primary physicians: Bipolar disorder (manic-depressive disorder) often fails to be diagnosed correctly by primary care physicians. Many patients with...read more »

Eating disorders under-diagnosed in men: The typical patient with an eating disorder is female. The result is that men with eating disorders often fail to be diagnosed or have...read more »

Depression undiagnosed in teenagers: Serious bouts of depression can be undiagnosed in teenagers. The "normal" moodiness of teenagers can cause severe...read more »

Undiagnosed anxiety disorders related to depression: Patients with depression (see symptoms of depression) may also have undiagnosed anxiety disorders (see ...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Paranoia

Diagnostic tests for Paranoia:

Various tests are used in the diagnosis of Paranoia. Some of these are listed below :

• Mental state examination - including appearance, behavior, rate and continuity of speech, mood, affect, thought content, evidence of any hallucinations or abnormal beliefs, orientation to time, place and person, attention and concentration, short-term memory, insight and judgement.
• Physical examination
  • Does the person smell of alcohol
  • Temperature
  • Neurological examination to look for focal neurological signs and papilledema

See full list of 21 diagnostic tests for Paranoia

Diagnosis Checklist: Questions your doctor may ask (and why!)

During a consultation, your doctor will use various techniques in their assessment of Paranoia. Your doctor may ask several questions when assessing your condition. It is important to remember that your consultation is a two-way process and any extra information you can share with your doctor about your symptoms may help them with their diagnosis. Some of the questions your doctor may ask are listed below:

• May need to get some history from family members and friends. Paranoid people are most likely to present following requests by family and friends. Paranoid people are by nature suspicious of others and they do not often present voluntarily for care
• How long have you noticed the paranoia? - to determine if acute or chronic. If acute in nature must consider delirium or a new onset of psychiatric illness as a possible cause of delusion. Delirium is an acute confusional state due to many causes e.g. infection, drug intoxication, alcohol withdrawal, hypoxia (reduced oxygen levels in the blood), stroke or head injury. If the onset is chronic a diagnosis of a psychiatric illness or dementia may be more likely.
• What are the symptoms and features of the paranoid thoughts? - e.g. general suspiciousness; fears and beliefs that they are being persecuted, taken advantage of, or wronged in some way; inability to trust or confide in others; hostility if it is perceived that others are prying or scheming against the person; reluctance to sign any sort of paper work; excessive concern about confidentiality; refusal to accept medication or other forms of treatment due to suspiciousness or lack of trust in the clinician's motives; history of repeated terminations of employment.
• How would you describe the person's personality? - Paranoia may be a personality trait characterized by social isolation, hypersensitivity and suspiciousness that may lie inside or outside the range of "normal" behavior. People are diverse and some people have more paranoid beliefs or beliefs in conspiracy theories than other people.
• Was there a known precipitating factor to the paranoid thoughts and behavior? - e.g. physical illness, starting a different medication, abstaining from alcohol. Paranoid thinking is likely to be heightened by stress.

See Diagnosis Checklist for Paranoia (19 listings)

Diagnosis Checklist: Associated symptoms your doctor may ask about (and why!)

Sometimes, other symptoms may be present and may help your doctor analyse your condition. The symptoms your doctor may ask about (in association with Paranoia) may include:

• Memory loss? - Paranoia may be the presenting feature in dementing elderly people.
• Persecutory delusions? - include beliefs that centre around the theme that you are being deliberately wronged, or conspired against, or harmed by another person or agency. Such beliefs are often associated with schizophrenia.
• Delusions of jealousy? - belief, without good reason, that your partner is unfaithful. May be associated with Delusional disorder.
• Hallucinations? - false sensory perception in which you see, hear, smell, sense or taste something that other people do not see, hear, smell or taste. Auditory hallucinations may occur with schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, dementia or delirium, and their content tends to be related to the nature of the disorder. Visual hallucinations are most common with delirium.
• Psychotic symptoms? - e.g. delusions, hallucinations and disordered thinking - may suggest schizophrenia or bipolar disorder but these symptoms may also be present with delirium, dementia and severe depression.

See Diagnosis Checklist for Paranoia (19 listings)

Stories from Users for Paranoia

Real-life user stories relating to Paranoia:

• Please help me, the doctors think I'm lying or crazy.
• Doctors cannot figure me out?
• 8 Doctors can't find out what's wrong with me please help.
• My body hates me...HELP!
• Dr. treats me like I'm crazy!
• Lymes-like symptoms. Could someone please help me?
• Can someone figure out what's going on with me? PLEASE?!!
• For crying out loud HELP ME!
• My wife has lost her mind (Paranoid Delusions)
• Help Me Find Out If Somethings Wrong With My Baby
• My wife is VERY paranoid
• Help! I dont' want to be a house hermit!
• no one can give me a concrete diagnosis
• Please help me before I go insane........
• in my mind?
• is there anyone else like me out there?
• Please help me-Too much pain for too long. Cannot go on like this.
• Please help me figure this out.
• Diabetes likes & Tiredness, Heart paining. Pls help me out!
• Mental illness....please give me some advice!

Symptom specific forums: The following patient stories in our interactive forums and message boards relate to Paranoia or relevant symptoms:

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  • PLEASE can anyone help my son?!
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  • Anxiety or...?
  • Weird Behavior at School. Normal?
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Medications or substances causing Paranoia:

The following drugs, medications, substances or toxins are some of the possible causes of Paranoia as a symptom. Always advise your doctor of any medications or treatments you are using, including prescription, over-the-counter, supplements, herbal or alternative treatments.

• Cannabis
• Marijuana
• Benzphetamine Hydrochloride
• Didrex
• Amphetamine Sulfate

See full list of 34 medications causing Paranoia

Drug interactions causing Paranoia:

When combined, certain drugs, medications, substances or toxins may react causing Paranoia as a symptom. Always advise your doctor of any medications or treatments you are using, including prescription, over-the-counter, supplements, herbal or alternative treatments.

• Imipramine and Methyltestosterone interaction

See full list of 1 drug interactions causing Paranoia

Organs affected by Paranoia:

The list of organs typically affected by Paranoia may include, but is not limited to:

• Brain

Detailed list of causes of Paranoia

The list below shows some of the causes of Paranoia mentioned in various sources:

• Acute intermittent porphyria - paranoia
• Alcohol Withdrawal - paranoid delusions
• Alcoholism - paranoid delusions
• Amphetamine abuse - paranoia
• Binswanger's disease

See full list of 31 causes of Paranoia

How Common are these Causes of Paranoia?

This information refers to the general prevalence and incidence of these diseases, not to how likely they are to be the actual cause of Paranoia. Of the 31 causes of Paranoia that we have listed, we have the following prevalence/incidence information:

• 2 causes are "very common" diseases
• 2 causes are "common" diseases
• 0 causes are "uncommon" diseases
• 1 causes are "rare" diseases
• 1 causes are "very rare" diseases
• 26 causes have no prevalence information.

See the analysis of the prevalence of 31 causes of Paranoia

Conditions listing symptoms: Paranoia:

The following list of conditions have 'Paranoia' or similar listed as a symptom in our database. This computer-generated list may be inaccurate or incomplete. Always seek prompt professional medical advice about the cause of any symptom.

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Doctors and specialists: Who should I consult about Paranoia?

Depending on the seriousness of the onset of Paranoia, you may want to consult one of the following medical professionals.
Important:In extreme cases, always seek advice from emergency services :

• General practitioner
• Emergency physician
• Psychiatrist

Classifications of Paranoia:

Subtypes of Paranoia:

Severe paranoid reaction, Hearing voices (2 causes)

Medical Conditions associated with Paranoia:

Delusions (50 causes), Mental problems (1922 causes), Behavioral symptoms (2729 causes), Personality symptoms (2444 causes)

Symptoms related to Paranoia:

Delusions (50 causes)

Paranoia as a disease:

You may also want to research other Diseases in our Disease Center.

Medical articles on signs and symptoms:

Doctor-patient articles related to symptoms and diagnosis:

• What to tell your doctor about your symptoms
• What questions will the doctor ask about your symptoms (and why)?
• What does your doctor do in a physical examination?
• What questions should you ask the doctor about a symptom or diagnosis?
• What questions to ask the doctor about the treatment
• Steps to take to get the most out of a doctor visit
• More articles on symptoms and diagnosis

These general medical articles may be of interest:

• Medical Symptom Books
• Symptoms of the Silent Killer Diseases
• Online Diagnosis
• Self Diagnosis Pitfalls
• Pitfalls of Online Diagnosis

See full list of premium articles on symptoms and diagnosis

Medical News summaries about Paranoia

Our news pages contain the following medical news summaries about Paranoia and many other medical conditions:

• More available treatments for dementia

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