10 Suggestions About How to Stop Being Paranoid

More and more people are becoming paranoid as years pass by, and most of them are not even aware that they have this problem. Paranoia is a pathological fear that makes people think that everybody wants to hurt them. They have a feeling that they are always under the radar of prying eyes, that someone is following them, or that they are victims of various conspiracies. Experts believe that it is caused by several factors such as lacking of sleep, hormonal imbalance and some mental disorders like schizophrenia.

How to Stop Being Paranoid

1. Get to Know Your Paranoia

Knowing what causes your paranoia, when it occurs and what sets it off, can help you deal with it much easier. You can accomplish this by keeping a diary of paranoid feelings for a couple of days or weeks.

While putting your thoughts onto paper, you will realize that there are certain emotions that activate your paranoia, such as anxiousness or anger. This knowledge can further help prohibit these emotions from occurring, and help you cope with them better.

2. Stop Being Pessimistic

You could be paranoid because of your habit to always presume the worst, like thinking that everybody hates your clothes, that your friends don't really like you, or that your boss can't wait for your contract to end so that he can finally fire you. But honestly, most of these are probably not true. To finally put an end to the pessimistic thought and replace it with the positive one, try following these steps:

  • Determine how realistic your presumed scenario actually is.
  • Don't always assume the worst, but rather look at the situation from different angles. You'll see that not all of the possible outcomes are as blue as you thought they were.
  • Fight one negative thought with two positive ones. So, if your first impression was that everybody at your office was mocking your new haircut, change your thought and think that they just saw an interesting video.

3. Check If Anxiety Is the Reason Behind Your Paranoia

Anxiety can sometimes cause paranoid feelings, even though these conditions are quite different from one another. While anxiety makes one think that he or she is fatally ill, paranoia makes the one think that somebody makes him or her sick on purpose. Either way, in case anxiety is the root of your paranoia, you might want to seek professional help.

4. Look at Things from Others' Point of View

If you aren't sure about how to stop being paranoid, you can do it by looking at things from the point of view of other people. In that case, if you are worried that everybody at your office will notice that you are wearing the same clothes you wore a couple of days ago, try to put yourself into someone else's shoes by asking yourself whether you can recall what somebody wore the previous week. Probably not.

5. Open up to a Friend

Talking about your paranoia with someone will help you lift some heavy weight off from your chest by realizing how silly your fears actually are.

  • If you believe that somebody hates you, tell that to a friend who knows that person, and your friend might be able to reassure you.
  • While you are deciding who to confide in, make sure that person is a close friend of yours who has no intention of encouraging your paranoia any further.

6. Don't Stress About What Others Think

Not caring about other people's opinion on you will definitely help you learn how to stop being paranoid. Sure, you can't change this overnight, but once you try to stop being conscious about everything you do, you will see that being yourself is all that matters. Even if you learn that somebody made an ill comment on you, just shrug it off.

7. Recognize the Goodness Around You

Pay close attention to the interactions you have with people, and write down all of the good things they did that made you feel special, as well as why you think these moments will influence your life. Whenever you get paranoid, read what you wrote as it will help you realize that, in fact, most of the people's intentions aren't bad.

8. Occupy Yourself

Distracting your mind off of paranoid thoughts by occupying yourself and focusing on doing something you really love can work wonders. You will be left with no time to stress over your irrational fears as you are doing something positive for yourself.

9. Look After Yourself

Paranoia sometimes tends to show itself when you are feeling tired or stressed. To prevent it, you have to change your habits by developing a workout routine, and making sure that you are getting enough sleep, your diet is healthy, and you have enough time for enjoyment. Avoid alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs or at least consider cutting back on them.

10. Seek Medical Help in Case You Really Need It

If you have tried these above-mentioned tips, but still cannot learn how to stop being paranoid, there may be some underlying problems such as schizophrenia which must be recognized and properly treated. If you feel like your paranoia is preventing you from living your life normally, paying a visit to a psychologist will be a good idea.

 
 
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