Understanding Acute Paranoia: Symptoms, Causes & Impact

Acute paranoia is a clinically recognized personality disorder characterized by extreme distrust, hostility and suspicion of others for unfounded and often delusional reasons. A person who suffers from paranoia is limited regarding healthy social interactions including work environments and personal relationships.

Cause

• The cause of a mental disorder such as paranoia is unknown; however; there are some factors that might cause the disorder's development. Paranoia is a possible side effect for individuals who abuse drugs such as PCP, cocaine and alcohol. Extreme stress is another possible cause of paranoia.

Symptoms

• A person suffering from paranoia will read a negative meaning from an innocent remark, will believe a certain person or people in general are "out to get him" and will stay preoccupied with unfounded doubts about the people around him.

Treatment

• Treatment for acute paranoia depends on any underlying conditions such as drug abuse, stress or other mental illness. Individual cases might call for medication, psychosocial therapy or a combination of both for proper treatment of the disorder.