topic Has anyone with anxiety experienced paranoia? in Anxiety

Has anyone with anxiety experienced paranoia?

Bluey_moon — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 01:34:53 GMT

Hi guys,

So for those of you that have read my previous posts would know Ive had GAD and more recently obsessive thoughts.

And at the moment my obsessive thoughts centre in me being scizophrenic (even though I've been told by my GP, a psychiatrist and my pyscologist that I'm not,well that they'd put a millin dollars on me not being scizophrenic).

My question is: previously when I'd read a lot about it, I read the symptoms. One of them being paranoia. So now sometimes I convince myself someone is watching me ect, even though I know it's not true!

Has anyone else experienced something similar?

Bluey

Has anyone with anxiety experienced paranoia?

Bluey_moon — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 02:06:40 GMT

I am going to bring it up with my pyscologist next week when I see her!

Has anyone with anxiety experienced paranoia?

Simona — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 10:39:00 GMT

I'm either paranoid or not paranoid. Period. There's no thinking behind it. Sometimes all it takes is a sign and a sign can come in many forms ie- in a name, in a cloud formation or a bee. I don't need a reason to feel the paranoia because I AM the paranoia.

Has anyone with anxiety experienced paranoia?

Dwwmills — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 10:50:18 GMT

I’m not qualified to be able to say whether you’re
schizophrenic or not but I would suggest that the fact that you know there’s no
one watching you is a good sign. I think that believing someone is watching you
in spite of the evidence would be a far worse sign.

I have GAD too. When my anxiety is up, things race around in
my mind and all sorts of things pop in that wouldn’t normally be there. When I
get my anxiety under control these thoughts are no longer a problem. The good
thing is that I have always known that they are just thoughts and have dealt
with them accordingly.

I think it’s a good idea that you are going to discuss this
with your psychologist. Hopefully she has some good ideas to help you challenge
and deal with these thoughts.

Good luck. I’ll be interested to see how you get
on.

Has anyone with anxiety experienced paranoia?

Simona — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 10:57:46 GMT

For me; bees are my messengers. They have been my messengers since 2005 . If i see a bee land on my car or on the washing I'm hanging out it's a warning. Because these little creatures have been following me around for years. And once they swarmed the entire house - every window. I was finding them in draws, kitchen cupboards and they were coming in to die. Because they all died. I know this sounds crazy but it's happened to me and it's true.

Has anyone with anxiety experienced paranoia?

Bluey_moon — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 11:33:09 GMT

Thank you Dwwmills,

i know I'm being silly! There are just days you feel as if you are going crazy!

Thank you for replying!

Has anyone with anxiety experienced paranoia?

Bluey_moon — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 08:19:59 GMT

Thanks Simona for your reply, sorry I don't fully understand what you were saying! But thank you!

Has anyone with anxiety experienced paranoia?

Bluey_moon — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 08:22:05 GMT

Today wasn't the best day in some respects! How do you tell if it's paranoia or obsessive thoughts about what you know and have read?

Has anyone with anxiety experienced paranoia?

Simona — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 09:55:32 GMT

I think I got too excited because I really wanted to explain why* I have a rigid paranoia with bees in particular.

I tend to assume everyone 'gets' me

Sorry you are having a bad day

Has anyone with anxiety experienced paranoia?

Bluey_moon — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 20:02:48 GMT

I thank you Simona!

I now understand! That too would make me paranoid!

Sometimes im a bit daft, so don't take it personally, it takes me a while to catch on!

I just wanted to say I really appreciate the time you took to reply.

Today is a new day!

Has anyone with anxiety experienced paranoia?

Dwwmills — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 03:30:56 GMT

Hello Bluey moon.

I find GAD amazing in the way that it surfaces. When I’m not
doing well and my anxiety is up I find that I worry about all sorts of
different things. They seem very important at the time and I can waste a lot of
time trying to solve the problem. It’s hard to step back and see them as
symptoms of the underlying anxiety that needs to be treated.

With my anxiety I find that at times I am just anxious and
on edge and I can’t really put my finger on exactly what it is. I find
something that I think is causing the anxiety and I solve that problem (After
much wasted time and worry). The anxiety doesn’t go away. So I just find
another thing to focus on and so on and so on. To use an analogy it’s like
sticking a running garden hose in the ground and trying to stop the waterspouts
coming up in different places. You stick something on one fountain and the
water finds somewhere else to pop up. What really needs to happen is someone
needs to turn the hose off. And I liken this to anxiety. It surfaces all over
the place but what we really need to do is tackle the underlying anxiety.

I found cognitive-based therapy in combination with
medication to help dampen the racing thoughts worked well for me. Cognitive-based
therapy takes a while to learn and takes a while to see results from. The thing
I liked about CBT is it does give you some insights into your thinking and also
gives you the ability to tackle the problem long-term. This gives you power and
control over the anxiety. It’s not to say that I don’t have bad days because I
do. I just have more tools now for dealing with them.

Has anyone with anxiety experienced paranoia?

Bluey_moon — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 04:47:17 GMT

Thank you Dwwmills,

You described GAD to a T. That is exactly what happens to me. As soon as I stop stressing about one thing another pops up!

My psycologist has suggested a combination of CBT and acceptance therapy. I'm going to work really hard on both of these.

Mi thank you so much for your insight!

Skye

Has anyone with anxiety experienced paranoia?

Bluey_moon — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 11:25:22 GMT

Simona I just had an aha moment, rereading your reply to me, when you said you either are or you aren't paranoid, there is no thinking. I think you were saying if I'm thinking I am, then I'm not. This has been such a help to me.

I was just laying in bed with my herbal tea, and it finally clicked! Thank you xo

Has anyone with anxiety experienced paranoia?

Bluey_moon — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 20:14:56 GMT

So tired today, my bubba is sick! So my mind is running circles. Am I paranoid, am I just convincing myself I am? Wished I'd never read the Internet, my paranoia directly relate to stories I've read mostly 😞