BEING PARANOID

Growing up, I had a paranoid mind. I was scared of everyone and found it difficult to trust people, even my loved ones. I was scared whenever I was alone with the opposite sex; I always thought they intended to rape me. I was always scared of talking to strangers; I assumed they were all ritual killers. I was scared of darkness, “for the night is dark and full of terrors”. I was scared of sleeping alone, I thought demons come in the night to kill people in their sleep; hence I needed a “defender”. I was always very reluctant to borrow out the very little money I had back then, I had the mindset that the person would never pay back even though the money was so little. I was scared of traveling because I always thought of the possibility of having an accident or being attacked by robbers. I was scared of eating other people’s food or picking money on the ground, I didn’t want to turn into a yam. Believe me; I can go on and on and on.

These were fears a lot of us had as children but eventually outgrew. However, it still amazes me that there are still “grown-ups” who still live with these irrational fears they ought to have long gotten over.

An acquaintance once told me that she was scared of staying alone with her dad; she thought he might rape her. I asked if he had ever exhibited any “funny” behavior at any point and the answer was no. She was just scared of her dad simply because she had heard of stories were some sick men raped their daughters. As funny as it sounds, a lot of us live daily with similar fears. Some of us are still scared to give lifts to stranded strangers because we think; they are probably armed robber or even ritual killers. Some of us can’t cross the road by ourselves because we seem to be certain that we would be hit by an “invisible” trailer. Some of us are scared to change dead electric bulbs because we think we would get electrocuted. Some of us are scared of using motor bikes because we believe we will end up in the gutter. I could go on and on.

The truth is, a lot of people are paranoid and they leave with this mental condition without even knowing it. To most of them, it’s normal; they never believe it’s a problem. But what they fail to realize is that they leave lives full of self-caused limitations. They can’t do things that normal people do simply because they are scared that “something bad might happen”. They unconsciously deny themselves a happy and free life and live in a self-made “cage”. Don’t get me wrong, in life, you ought to take necessary precautions but that does not mean that everyone and everything around should become a “suspect”.

Furthermore, when you are paranoid, you turn out to be “always negative” without even knowing it and you will unconsciously spread these negative vibes. You gradually develop the habit of discouraging others and prevent people from doing things they would have done ordinarily. Eventually, a lot of people will drift from you because they would get tired of your paranoid mindset.

In a nutshell, being paranoid is not normal. Yes, everyone has peculiar fears but the moment your fears become excess to the point that they begin to irritate people around you, then it becomes a problem.
My advice to people living with this condition is to see a therapist in order to get all the professional and adequate help they need in order to overcome this abnormal behavior. Above all, try to make conscious effort to see your fears as mere distractions and learn to see the positive side of everything. Further, as a religious individual, I would advice to pray about it, believe me it’s not too minor to pray about.
Also, if you happen to have paranoid people around you, it’s not fair enough to just put them aside and avoid them. You could try talking to them about it. Some of these people do not realize this problem until people point it out to them. You could also refer to a therapist and pray for them alongside. Also, try to stay around them, keep them company. Remember loneliness propagates fear. Always try to draw their attention to the positive side of everything. Try as much as possible to make them think that their fears are just mere fantasies that would never happen. All that would go a long way in helping such individuals come out from their “fear-zone”.

Thank you so much for reading this post and I leave you with this quote:
“Being paranoid is an antidote to a happy life”.