Once it affected 1% of the population. Now more than a quarter of us suffer from paranoia, leading expert Daniel Freeman tells Sabine Durrant from the Guardian.
Paranoia, like depression and anxiety, can cause great anguish. “It’s a hierarchy of fear. It’s very common to think people are trying to irritate, or upset you. Less so is thinking there are coded negative messages about you in the press and radio.”
If you make the connection to things such as depression and anxiety, it really opens it up. “People with depression have higher levels of paranoia because of a sense of vulnerability and low self-esteem.”