Paranoia

We are suspicious of strangers. We don’t let our children play outside. We cross the road to avoid a group of teenagers. Security cameras record our lives. Is paranoia on the increase, fuelled by media coverage of murders, muggings and abductions?

Until recently, scientists didn’t study paranoia. No-one knew how common it was. But things are changing. For the past decade, Dr Daniel Freeman from the Institute of Psychiatry, London, has been carrying out research into paranoia. The results have been startling. In a ground-breaking experiment, a virtual-reality Underground ride tested the level of paranoia in 200 members of the public. This confirmed that suspicious or paranoid thoughts are much more common than previously believed. In fact, paranoia is almost as common as anxiety and depression. Around a quarter of us have regular paranoid thoughts, and probably lots more have them occasionally. There is a very good chance that all of us will, at some point in our lives, be among that quarter.

In a new book, Paranoia: The 21st Century Fear, Daniel Freeman and Jason Freeman explore the causes of our fears, identifying the psychological, social, and cultural factors that seem to be skewing the way we think and feel about the world around us.

Have we always been this fearful? Are we right to be suspicious? Should we try to reduce levels of paranoia? If so, how?

Join the authors to find out more. Share your fears - and your courage.

Event organised by:
The European Dana Alliance for the Brain

Speakers

Co-authors of Paranoia: The 21st Century Fear:
Daniel Freeman, Wellcome Trust Fellow, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Jason Freeman, writer and editor
Facilitator: Adam Rutherford, Nature

Event video

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