Reading Between The Lines - Paranoid Thinking & ASD

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Actually, your explanation is thought provoking and answered my question. Interesting, your thoughts on a connection between paranoia and jealousy. I am, apparently, missing the jealousy chip (along with a few other chips). But that's neither here nor there, in terms of the topic at hand.

From my perspective, I think naturalplastic hit the nail on the head, in terms of his description of what paranoia presents as, and he was in fact, describing some of the paranoid thinking of his friend. But, there is likely, a spectrum, like, with anything, these days. Perhaps you can be paranoid, but, not in the context of his description. I, actually, do think that delusional thinking and paranoia can go hand in hand. But, I am not well-versed on the subject, so, I could be entirely, wrong. I can say this - one of my jobs I do, entails working with a large percentage of narcissistic folks, and, I have witnessed some extremely paranoid thinking on some of their parts. Not saying all people who are on the N spectrum experience paranoid, or delusional thinking, but, plenty do. Anyway, thanks for this thought provoking discussion.

edit: I have had a taste of what it is like to feel paranoid, and I have experienced delusional thinking, in the aftermath of the trauma I experienced, due to a phenomenon my ASD therapist referred to, as 'splitting'. It was a sort of, subconscious, self-preservation/self-protection mechanism that, naturally happened, which apparently can keep a person from having an all-out 'psychotic break'. It was a single episode, but, I was told it could happen, multiple times, throughout the period of time it took, for my mind to process what had occurred/the traumatic event.

Yeah I definitely had some Narcissistic traits in the past , I'm not sure if I just learned them off a friend ( who definitely fits the criteria for NPD ) because I don't have them anymore including jealousy which is weird as it almost feels like I don't care anymore. Do you see Narcissistic traits in my writing?

I've never heard of 'splitting' but had a few delusional episodes in the past which led to 'psychotic breaks' ( these are my definitions not Doctors ) , my first one was possibly due to drugs ( Doctors say it was toxic psychosis ) but consequent breaks were identical but without drugs. I wish I had a better defense mechanism when I was delusional as it would saved a lot of trauma.

I've definitely been in a similar dark place that David describes in your quote firemonkey , it's probably happened about 4 times in my life but never as bad as David and I have always been able to recognize that they are delusions ( so maybe delusion is not the correct term ) but the fact I even thought something was afoot was the kicker - I thought I was going insane or schizophrenic or both.
The quote also reminds me of a time I was in the funny farm and this guy showed me a letter he had received back from the Chief of Police & Houses Of Parliament stating that they would investigate the strange "Rays" that this dude was complaining about , I actually thought it was poor taste for them to even write back such a letter as the dude was clearly delusional about these mind control 'Rays' and it only fueled his delusion , this ragged , sellotaped , folded up faded letter that he always kept in his pocket was the definitive proof he needed to prove it wasn't in his mind. The memory of him has been etched into my psyche forever , this poor old dude wandering around the ward muttering 'the rays , the rays'.

Edit: I should also say that those two links you provided and the surfing I did from those links was an engrossing read and I'm questioning Schizophrenia again - I swear to god if someone posted a link to a fictitious disease I could somehow skew my perception into thinking I might have it

firemonkey, the bottom tier of the pyramid is what I experience, with the exception of 'thinking the world is a dangerous place'. I have always felt safe in the world, for the most part. But, I do, experience 'fears of rejection' and 'feelings of vulnerability'. At times, to a debilitating degree...

It was interesting to read what you've linked...

^If you haven't done so, already, you might find a few videos pertaining to EEG treatment, on YouTube, or on the main EEG site. I had, initially, viewed a video in my psychologist's office, of a war veteran who had returned home from Afghanistan to find living with symptoms of PTSD, impossible. At that time, I was hopeless, however, listening to him, changed my attitude, tremendously, and it made me determined. He had been far worse off, than I was, and the treatment was effective for his condition. Since that time, EEG has been proven effective for treating other matters of the brain, certain types of disabilities, some neurological functioning, ADHD, Anxiety, Sensory difficulties and other conditions, and I just listened to an interesting interview, via an Invisibilia podcast, regarding the effectiveness of EEG on a woman's Alexathymic traits. Not that Alexathymia applies to you, per se, but I found it to be quite interesting and moving, so, perhaps I will see if I can post the link, here, in case you (or anyone else) might find it of value.

I hope your weekend is off to a great start. Although, I suppose it's half over, since it appears you are in the UK. Funny, before I noticed your location, I thought you were in Michigan, in the US. I wonder what gave me that idea. Perhaps, it was a member, who's writing and/or avatar is similar in nature. Rambling, now.

Yeah , I'll check some videos out but I don't think it's a viable option , I doubt they do it on the NHS and I definitely can't afford therapy. If you find the link please post it.

I think your behind me regarding timezones , your post came in Fri afternoon so the whole weekend ahead of me , have a great one yourself.

I was unable to link the podcast, here. However, I might be able to do it, by going through a different channel.