Living with paranoia can be tiring, frustrating and ultimately debilitating both personally and socially. If you are living with this personality disorder, there are ways to cope and manage those symptoms of anxiety, distrust and isolation, however.
1. Maintain General Health
When our bodies are healthy, our mind feels healthier too. Therefore, an important first step to managing a mental health condition (paranoia included) is to ensure that you are taking care of your body. Be sure to get the right amount of sleep every night (not too much or too little), exercise regularly and eat healthy meals. Try to avoid drugs and alcohol as well as this can aggravate symptoms and increase feelings of paranoia.
2. Try Mindfulness
If your paranoia is typically driven by stress or anxiety, trying techniques of mindfulness or meditation might help alleviate some of those feelings and reduce the symptoms of paranoia. Through this technique you will learn to confront negative thoughts or emotions so that you are able to move past them. Meditation and breathing exercises can also help quiet busy minds, helping to reduce anxiety.
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3. Recognize and Challenge Paranoid Thoughts
Another important technique to try when coping with paranoia is learning how to recognize paranoid thoughts, then challenge them. It might help to do this very practically by writing down the feeling and thinking through reasons for or against that statement being true. It’s quite likely that you will discover more logical reasons against that paranoid thought or feeling. Put simply, it’s important to learn how to recognize these thoughts and feelings in order to change them in the future.
4. Seek Professional Help
Of course, you do not have to be alone as you cope with paranoia. Mental health professionals can offer therapy options, additional coping techniques and even medication. While it may be difficult to trust others, there are many people who really do want to help you with your diagnosis.
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