Personality Quizzes
Are People Out to Get You?
Published on July 28, 2008
Personality disorders can be very distressful to the individuals who suffer from the disorders. Nonetheless, family and friends are usually the ones complaining. Please understand, people do not choose to have a personality disorder, though the reality is-- their behavior and attitudes can be painfully difficult to understand and accept. This can be especially true with Paranoid Personality Disorder (PPD). I would be surprised if many of individuals with PPD seek counseling. It is highly improbable, unless someone in their environment is persistently and persuasively pushing them to "talk to someone." Individuals with PPD are not likely to trust a therapist or the person pushing him or her to see a therapist.I've always found paranoia to be a perfectly defensible position. -- Pat Conroy
According to the DSM IV, "Their excessive suspiciousness and hostility may be expressed in overt argumentativeness, in recurrent complaining, or by quiet, apparently hostile aloofness" (DSM IV, 1996, p.635). They may appear cold, lacking in emotions, secretive and guarded.
Individuals with PPD make up approximately 0.5% of 2.5% of the general population. Consequently, if after you read this, you start seeing them under every shrub and behind every door, it is just the "New Therapist Syndrome" - or you are living in a bizarre neighborhood. Or, perhaps reading about the personality disorders has made you paranoid. The New Therapist Syndrome strikes after we read too much about psychopathology. While working on my Master's at the Citadel in Charleston, I took an Abnormal Psychology class. By the end of the semester, I was convinced that I had several serious and ineffably fatal disorders AND my friends were more psychotic than I. Don't worry, this passes with time. Though to tell you the truth (our secret—quiet—people are listening), I still have suspicions about a few of my friends, especially the cop and the minister.
The personality and belief patterns listed below are those likely to be noticed in a person with Paranoid Personality Disorder. They must have had these symptoms since early adulthood, and the symptoms must be present in a variety of contents.
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I, too, have a parent like this (62 yrs old). As she grows older, her PPD renders her holed up in her house and wary of communicating with family or friends. The sad thing is, I cannot help or intervene on her behalf until something really bad happens and a court determines her mentally incapacitated. At that point (so I've been told), it's even possible that adult children could be blamed and held liable for not stepping in sooner. Damned if we do, damned if we don't, I guess? I am truly sorry for your (and your parent's) pain and suffering. In this day and age, emotional problems are starting to seem like the rule rather than the exception. Best of luck, and know that you are not alone in these tribulations.
It is up to the person to decide what he or she will do with his or her life. No matter how much we love someone, we only have as much power to persuade as they give to us. Sometimes we cannot help, no matter how much we want to--other than just being there--and that is quite valuable in itself.
I wish you well. You have had a long, difficult journey --and it continues. Hugs to you and your family as you struggle to help your mother.