Paranoid Personality Disorder

Paranoid personality disorder (PPD) is characterized by a pervasive mistrust of other people (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 1994; Bernstein, Useda, & Siever, 1995; Miller, Useda, Trull, Burr, & Minks-Brown, 2001). Other common features of the disorder include quarrelsomeness, hostility, emotional coldness, hypersensitivity to slights or criticism, stubbornness, and rigidly held maladaptive beliefs of others’ intents (APA, 1994; Bernstein et al., 1995; Miller et al., 2001). The prototypical picture is of someone who is preoccupied with real or imagined slights or threats, mistrusts the intentions or motives of others, and rarely trusts the seemingly benign appearance of things. The guiding underlying assumption is that others are malevolent they can betray, hurt, take advantage, or humiliate. Thus, measures must be taken to protect oneself by keeping one’s distance from other people, not appearing weak or vulnerable, searching for signs of threat even in seemingly innocuous situations, preemptively attacking others who are viewed as threatening, and vigorously...

What is Paranoid personality disorder?

Paranoid personality disorder is characterized as a longstanding suspiciousness and mistrust of people in general. Paranoid individuals are suspicious, resentful, hostile and often times irritable and angry. The essential picture of paranoid personality disorder is a pervasive and unwarranted tendency to interpret other people's actions as deliberately demeaning or threatening. Combined with this is the desire to remain free of close personal relationships in which there is a chance of losing power or self-control. Paranoid individuals frequently, without justification, question the loyalty or trustworthiness of friends, family and associates. In the workplace, they tend to be jealous of coworkers, guarded, and loners, often times isolating themselves from others. They react with anger even to constructive criticism and have a tendency to be quarrelsome, abrasive and would much rather work alone. It is commonplace for them to turn a small issue or problem into a catastrophic issue....