Reading Between The Lines - Paranoid Thinking & ASD

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https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... id-are-you

I scored 13. So just within the bottom 50%. I wonder how other Aspies ,diagnosed or self diagnosed,will score.

I scored 10 , I think that test is baloney firemonkey , too short , too subjective and open to interpretation ( evidenced by the fact you deducted 1 point in the time it took for me to quote you ) . There is no way I think like 50% of the population.

I detected 1 point because I realised I'd had a brain fart and made a mistake in totting up my score.

OK not evidenced than

I think people's definition of paranoia differ depending on their experiences.

Answer me this question firemonkey , do you think it is paranoia if?

Lets take Natural's example of his friend at a festival but instead of thinking the CIA, MI5, MI6, FBI,KGB,MOSSAD are after you , you just merely question the fact that the guy on the phone gave you a weird look but dismiss it as a coincidence because you know your not important. Then the same thing happens a few more times but this time it takes you a little longer to dismiss it as coincidence. Then because of this you start to pay attention to insignificant details trying to link them to the guy on the phone. My mind can get quite creative and make huge leaps and bizarre connections but I'm always able to rationalize it as coincidence , this thought process happens in nanoseconds but it is still mentally draining , painful & scary for the nanosecond it happens.

I personalty class this as paranoia but have been told by psychiatrists it's anxiety.

So your lack of experience with this somehow proves that CharityGoodGrace's experience is somehow false? Maybe you should clarify which part is BS.

I am not sure. It's a very complex area. I think people lie on a spectrum from no signs of what broadly might be defined as paranoia through to people thinking the CIA, MI5, MI6, FBI,KGB,MOSSAD after them or similar thoughts .

Perhaps what matters most is how it is impacting on an individual's ability to function occupationally and socially.

Maybe off on a tangent but here goes. I live on the 11th floor of a tower block with entry to the block of flats via an intercom system.

I described to my NP how sometimes at night I struggle to sleep because I sense a presence and worry that someone is in the flat. I saw this as a sign of paranoia but the NP labelled it as anxiety.

That sounds like anxiety to me OTOH if it was happening to me I'd call it paranoia

I think defining things to a mental health professional can cause problems when it comes to self distinguishing between (social) anxiety and paranoia.
I think this is especially true if you are seen as having insight and what you say is taken at face value.

Mistakenly say you are paranoid enough times even though severe social anxiety might be a better descriptor, and it may be assumed that you are,indeed, prone to paranoia.
That then feeds into how you are dxed.

If you say you are paranoid often such a statement is taken at face value without an attempt to tease out why the person is saying they are paranoid, and to ascertain whether the self description is indeed accurate.

Going back to naturalplastic's post : I do wonder about the difficulty of teasing out severe social anxiety from milder forms of paranoia. At what point does a fear of being bullied,embarrassed or ridiculed if engaging with others become something paranoid in nature?
Obviously we are not talking about CIA/MI5 bugging my home level of paranoia but what may be much milder/subtler presentations of paranoia.

Is a difficulty trusting because of negative experiences like bullying an understandable but socially limiting protective mechanism or an indicator of pathological paranoia ?

Yeah I think your right , I first thought I was paranoid when I was 19ish and have used the term ever since with Dr's.
It is only recently that a Dr told me that it was not paranoia but anxiety , since then that I have begun to question exactly what I have.

I have no idea but for me I don't believe I was bullied , embarrassed or ridiculed enough ( although I do remember the few times it did happen vividly as if it was a traumatic event )

It wasn't the bullying as a teen that traumatized me; it was how the ADULTS acted-- like I was stupid, like I needed help to not be stupid, like I had some traits of autism I didn't have, like I didn't know what to do, like I needed to speak up-- I had my REASONS for wanting to keep a low profile that I was NOT ready to tell them!! ! Embarrassing moments!! If they had just left me alone, or if I had gone to a new school, I would have been myself AFTER high school!! !

I don't experience paranoia (as far as I know), but, I do go through phases of being extremely hyper-vigilant, in certain situations, or, as the result of various behaviors of people around me. My perception of things can become off, or extreme, or clouded. It destroys my friendships/potential relationships. In my case, it often involves cognitive dissonance on some level. I am diagnosed with ASD, Social Anxiety Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder, however, I only began to have these extreme symptoms, after being deceived by multiple people, over a period of a couple of years and this took place, a few years, ago. I have been teased/bullied from my early childhood, until this day, to some degree or another, however, I never developed these symptoms, prior to being deceived. Not sure if ASD has had an effect on my symptoms, or not. Forgive me, as I am aware this likely isn't entirely (if at all) on topic.

"Distrust" is the common denominator between anxiety and true paranoia.

But with shyness and social anxiety and the like its as much distrust of one's self as it is distrust of others. That you're gonna screw up and look bad, or be made to look bad.

Paranoia is when you think that your coworker is growing his sideburns out so it will hide the microphones he will wear on in his ear to communicate with the spymasters at the Vatican (or at the CIA, or at the Kremlin, or wherever) who keep tabs on you. Not quite the same thing as social anxiety.

No government agency has ever been involved in any of my perceived paranoia so it must be social anxiety - thanks for clearing that up NP ( in case you didn't realise that was sarcasm )

No forgiveness needed, it's good to hear other peoples personal experiences IMO