L I V I N G I N P A R A N O I A

Paranoia means a mental disorder characterized by systematized delusions and the projection of personal conflicts, which are ascribed to the supposed hostility of others, sometimes progressing to disturbances of consciousness and aggressive acts believed to be performed in self-defense or as a mission. Courtesy: Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Today I was reading about paranoia in today’s world. A leading psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Freeman from King’s College London has carried out a decade long research and found that one in four people suffer irrational fears of either being threatened or in danger on a regular basis. In fact paranoia is far more common than had been suspected and is on the rise, as a growing result inequity, social isolation and a far more competitive society.

Thinking about it, yes the world has changed. How many of them today send their children out to play in the streets? I don’t think any of them do. When I was young I had the freedom of playing in the streets. We seems to have entered an age of paranoia, people don’t let their children play outside, we are suspicious of strangers, wherever you go you have security cameras following your ever move. Life seems to have changed on a broader perspective since my childhood.

Dr Freeman has developed a “virtual reality” method of diagnosing paranoia, in which participants wear headsets and respond to a simulated environment and then complete a set of questionnaires. I don’t know if this method works fine. He also mentions that rates of paranoia are 2 times higher in cities than in rural areas. Of course why not, with the increased number of people and the fast life in cities, who wouldn’t get paranoid? Increased paranoia is certainly a challenge posed by the galloping urbanisation.

So, today's question is what are your paranoid about?