Paranoid personality disorder (PPD) is a psychological disorder that causes a person to feel constantly threatened and mistrustful of others. Common symptoms of paranoid personality disorder include paranoia, distrust, and hypersensitivity to perceived insults or slights. Owing to these issues, people with PPD have trouble with close relationships. There are no known physical signs of paranoid personality disorder.
PPD is one of a group of psychological disorders called eccentric personality disorders. People with a disorder in this group behave in ways that may seem erratic or simply strange to others. PPD manifests itself as irrational and unrelenting paranoia, the baseless suspicion that organizations or people are malicious in some way.
Symptoms of paranoid personality disorder usually appear in early adulthood. PPD is slightly more common in men than in women. Studies have shown that PPD may be genetically linked to schizophrenia.
People with this disorder tend to believe that other people, even close friends and family members, are using or deceiving them in some way. They find hidden malice in comments, looks, or gestures that were intended to be innocent. Hypersensitive to negative connotations, they tend to take criticism badly.
These symptoms of paranoid personality disorder cause people with this disorder to have trouble maintaining close relationships. Their delusions lead them to constantly suspect unfaithfulness and to be unforgiving of perceived slights. They tend to be reluctant to confide in others for fear that anything they say may be used to harm them later.
People with PPD also have trouble forming new relationships. Their constant distrust of people makes them seem cold and distant. They may also behave in a hostile manner as a defense against future attacks. People with this condition seem constantly on edge because they never feel safe enough to relax.
PPD can be treated with psychotherapy. The greatest obstacle to treating PPD is the patient himself or herself. Most people with PPD do not know that they have a problem. Their paranoia and delusions seem reasonable to them, and therefore they are often unwilling to get treatment.
Those who do get treatment have trouble following their treatment regimens. It is not uncommon for patients with PPD to suddenly stop psychotherapy because they believe their psychiatrist is secretly collecting information to blackmail them or to stop taking medication because they believe it has been poisoned. Although no drugs directly treat PPD, doctors may prescribe anti-anxiety or anti-psychotic drugs in an effort to control the more severe symptoms of paranoid personality disorder.
