: Convinced the whole world's out to get you? You're not alone | Mail Online
A distressing mental disorder, paranoia is significantly on the rise in the UK, particularly among women, yet it’s rarely talked about. ‘Paranoia is an unfounded or exaggerated fear that others deliberately intend to cause us harm,’ says Daniel Freeman, author of Paranoia: The 21st Century Fear, and professor of clinical psychology at Oxford University.
In a study involving interviews with 1,200 people, Professor Freeman and his researchers found levels of paranoia are much higher than previously suspected — almost on a par with depression. For many people these fears may just be passing thoughts, but even so the figures suggested that more than 40 per cent of us are convinced that negative comments are being made behind our backs, 20 per cent worry about being observed, or followed, and 5 per cent are afraid that there is a deliberate conspiracy to do us harm.
And where we might once have dismissed paranoia as a disorder suffered by drug users or schizophrenics, it’s now a growing problem for ordinary, middle-class women.
‘Professional, well-educated women seem to be suffering increasingly,’ agrees Professor Freeman. ‘Often it starts with anxiety that you’re not coping well at work, or stems from constantly reading bad news, be it about job losses or divorce rates — we start to think we’ll be next.’
Lack of sleep has been identified as a significant factor in paranoia. And, with more women than men prone to sleeplessness, either because of peri-menstrual hormone changes that can cause insomnia, or because they are getting up in the night with young children, they are also most vulnerable, says Professor Freeman.
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And worryingly for those of us who ‘take the edge off’ the day with wine, alcohol carries the same risk. ‘More women are drinking heavily now, and alcohol can precipitate paranoid illnesses,’ warns consultant psychiatrist Dr Adrian Winbow at London’s Fitzroy Square Hospital.
That was the case for Emma Cox, 37, who works in human resources. ‘I have three young stepchildren and a demanding job,’ she says. ‘A few years ago, I started to drink more to cope with stress. I didn’t think it was a problem but gradually, I began to feel that my husband didn’t really love me. I believed he was still in love with his ex and, the more he reassured me, the more I’d say: “Well, you would say that.”
‘He couldn’t win. If he was five minutes late home, I thought he’d been phoning her. I started checking his calls and one day I even followed him. He didn’t go near her, but I just thought: “He must have known I was watching.” I’d justify all my thoughts, rather than question what was causing them.’
It was only when Emma cut down her drinking — from a couple of glasses of wine every night to just drinking at weekends — and they went on holiday that she felt able to confront her paranoia. ‘I got it all out, and Tom listened. He was shocked at how deep my paranoia had become — until then, I think he’d just imagined I was a bit insecure.
‘The fear began to go away once I admitted I was finding it hard to cope and couldn’t believe he really found me lovable. Over the next few weeks, he let me seek reassurance whenever I felt suspicious. Knowing he understood helped me to rein myself in, and focus on rational explanations.’
Paranoia, like Emma’s conviction that she wasn’t loved, can stem from plausible fears — things you may see happening around you, or hear of happening to others.
‘Often, the paranoia will be that a partner is having an affair; or related to feeling low self-esteem at work — you may become convinced that everyone is laughing behind your back,’ explains Professor Freeman. ‘But fears are not facts — and when you’re unable to tell the difference, that’s when it’s become a problem.’
Even women who have previously prided themselves on being rational can be susceptible if a seed of fear is planted and they let their imagination run away with them, as Anna Welsh admits.
‘The 9/11 attacks sparked my fears,’ says the 40-year-old full-time mother. ‘Just after the Tube bombings in London, I had to fly to America and I couldn’t shake the spectre of terrorism from my mind. When I got home, I became obsessed — reading everything I could about it, trying to work out the odds of an attack. Whenever I’m in a station or airport, I feel sick, as if the terrorists know I’m there and are after me.’
Anna now avoids travel, ‘But it’s getting just as bad in shopping centres,’ she says. ‘My husband keeps reminding me it isn’t rational, but I have a hundred counter-arguments to justify my fears.’
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