Paranoid Thoughts Almost As Common As Depression/Anxiety Reveal King’s College Scientists October 1, 2009
Ground-breaking research from clinical psychologists at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, shows that one in three people in the UK regularly suffers paranoid or suspicious fears. In fact this level of paranoia is much higher than previously suspected and means that paranoid thoughts may well be almost as common as depression or anxiety.
Paranoid thinking is the suspicion that other people intend to do us harm.
The study found that:
– over 40% of people regularly worry that negative comments are being made about them
– 27% think that people deliberately try to irritate them
– 20% worry about being observed or followed
– 10% think that someone has it in for them
– 5% worry that there’s a conspiracy to harm them
The research conducted amongst 1200 people highlights the surprising extent of paranoia amongst the UK population, and the distress they can cause. Worries about other people are so common that they seem to be an essential – if unwelcome – part of what it means to be human.
Dr Daniel Freeman, who conducted the study with Professor Philippa Garety at the Institute of Psychiatry, said: