The paranoid person: a biopsychosocial perspective

Abstract

Paranoia is not a uniquely medical term. Articles on the subject appear in the literature of fields as diverse as psychology, sociology, linguistics, cognitive processing, and computers. Paranoia is also a human response to physical, psychical, interpersonal, and social ills and, as such, is a phenomenon of interest to nursing. The study of paranoia by several disciplines provides nurses with a variety of perspectives from which to understand the experiences of paranoid clients. Paranoia will be presented as a phenomenon that can be viewed from levels ranging from the suborganismic level to the sociocultural. Implications for nursing interventions geared to each level will be discussed.