Paranoid Personality Disorder (PPD) is a serious mental illness that should not be taken lightly. At times, we all feel like the world is out to get us, but it's fleeting. Those with PPD constantly feel this way. Paranoia is a mental condition that includes unreasonable suspicion of people and situations. PPD patients take it to the extreme and this illness can rob them of their jobs, families, and sometimes their lives. To understand this illness we must delve deeper into its symptoms, causes, and treatments.

Patients with PPD have long term and unwarranted suspicions that everyone is malicious and out to harm or demean them. They have no real evidence of this other than their paranoid feelings.PPD usually begins in early adulthood and can last the duration of the patient's life.
Symptoms of PPD are:
General distrust of others
Avoidance of Closeness
Poor self esteem
Lack of sense of humor
Calculating and cold towards others
Inability to form and keep relationships
Isolated withdrawal
Questioning of everyone's motives and loyalty
Holds persistent grudges for long periods of time
Hostility
Expects to be exploited and deceived by others
Inability to hold a job
Rigid with a strong need to be self sufficient
Depression and Anxiety

PPD is often confused with Paranoid Schizophrenia. These are two different entities. Paranoid Schizophrenics are out of touch with reality and feel as if they are being followed or watched. PPD sufferers are in touch with reality, unless they are unusually stressed out. They are just out of touch with their negative paranoid feelings.

The exact causes of PPD are unknown. Studies done by the American Psychological Association have suggested that one or more family members with Schizophrenia could lend itself to this disease. PPD can also be a result of a tumultuous childhood laden with violence or parental misguidance that cultivated profound childhood memories. In some children, development of paranoid feelings was a mechanism to deal with stress they had growing up.

The advice of a qualified Psychiatrist should be sought if the person is no longer able to hold a job or deal with daily life because they are consumed by the paranoia. The diagnosis of PPD is difficult because of the distrust the person afflicted has of doctors and therapists. The family, most of the time, has to seek court ordered treatment for their loved one. Once the patient has entered treatment, again the challenges begin. They can be medicated on the short term with anti-anxiety and ant-depressant medications but the best option is intense one on one Psychotherapy usually in a day hospital or a full time mental institution. Those with PPD have a hard time opening up because they feel everyone is out to harm them, which makes the prognosis for this condition very bleak. There is no cure for PPD. This illness lasts a lifetime and gets worse as the patient ages. Elderly PPD sufferers often times have more bouts of depression coupled with paranoia that worsens the condition. They are medicated and placed in nursing homes equipped to care for them in their paranoid state of mind.

Families of patients afflicted with PPD must remember that it isn't personal. This is a true mental illness. There are support groups available through local hospitals. The American Psychology Association and Psychology Today online have a wealth of information to help families understand PPD. There is hope if medical professionals can break through the distrust that PPD sufferers have for society. The best thing a family can offer is love, support, and to make sure their loved one is getting the help they need to cope with PPD.

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