Perceptiveness, Anxiety, Hypervigilance, and Paranoia

There's a fine line between perceptiveness, hypervigilance, and paranoia.

Perceptiveness simply means you accurately see what is going on. When a perceptive individual points out something hitherto unnoticed by others, most reasonable persons will validate the perception. An example would be noticing that dark clouds are forming on the horizon and that it could be a sign of rain.

Hypervigilance is very goal-oriented, as opposed to the more broad-brush trait of perceptiveness. Hypervigilance implies being on the very much on the lookout for a certain thing or things. A good sentry in an army camp is hypervigilant for signs of an enemy attack. As is the case with the more general perceptiveness, a reasonable person will almost always agree the rationale behind hypervigilance. They will agree that what the hypervigilant person is looking for could reasonably happen.

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Hypervigilance is generally (if not always?) fueled by fear, but is usually always grounded in reality. A mother might be hypervigilant about the ways in which her child might possibly be hit be a car. A soldier in foxhole might be hypervigilant about where and when the next shell might come screaming in.

Hypervigilance is almost always reasonable.

Paranoia is not reasonable, but is pathological. It is an emotional disorder.

Paranoia occurs when one feels great fear and ascribes it (blames it) on something that reasonable persons cannot validate.

Paranoia is an escape hatch from facing an overwhelming feeling.

Example (from my own personal experience with a friend having cocaine-induced paranoia):

The friend was worried that other men might have sex with his girlfriend. A normal person might fell apprehension, or even hypervigilance, and those concerns would be understandable by a reasonable person. ("She is going to the store where Rocco works, and Rocco is good looking and might hit on her," etc.) bystanders might say, "Don't worry so much," but they would understand the plausibility that Rocco might be flirtatious.

My friend became so paranoid that his girlfriend might have sex with another person, that he had full-blown hallucinations of her having intercourse with other men in his backyard, in the street, etc.

when an emotion becomes too much to take in and face, paranoia can result. Paranoia is a way to "blame" a negative emotion on an outside entity, instead of facing that it is coming from within.

The paranoid person might say that the CIA is the reason he has been having car accidents, instead f facing up to the fact he is a bad driver.

the paranoid person might say that Jesus told him to kill Rocco for having sex with his girlfriend, instead of facing u to the simple fact that he was worried that someone might flirt with his girlfriend, and that there was no evidence that Rocco had ever flirted with his girlfriend. In a way, Paranoia is a convenient way to get out of the responsibility of owning u to your own emotions. instead of saying, "I am anxious that I might lose my girlfriend," instead one says "Rocco had sex with my girlfriend, and Jesus said I should kill Rocco." Voila! the paranoid person is free of responsibility.



The explanation for the fear must:

1) Be applicable in all situations

2) Must not be disprovable by anyone

So, the highly paranoid person will come up explanations for their ongoing fear such as

1) The CIA (the CIA could be spying from anywhere, but no one can disprove it);

2) Jesus or the Devil (He or She could be anywhere, and S/he could be mad at me, but no one can disprove it);

3) Poison in the air or food (it could happen at anytime, anywhere, but no one can disprove it)

4) Invisible flying saucers spying on me.

. . . and so on.


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Paranoia is not anxiety. These words are often confused. Anxiety is a fear of something bad happening, without not being quite sure what that something might be. Example: I am anxious about the public speaking engagement. they might laugh at me. I might freeze u from stage fright. I might be late. They might not show up. I might be humiliated and fear ever speaking publicly again. Etc.

All of these fears are understandable, and what most all people could agree are within the realm of reason.

Paranoia

Paranoia is a fear of something that others cannot validate. Few if an will validate that the CA is watching yo every moment of the day, especially if you are simple an ordinary rank-and-file citizen. Few would think the invisible flying saucers are watching you at all times.

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Summary
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Perceptiveness, anxiety, hypervigilance, and paranoia are different animals.

When the great industrialist, Andrew Grove (long-time head of Intel) entitled his book "Only the Paranoid Survive," it would have been more accurate to choose a title such as "Only the Relentlessly Hypervigilant Survive." A cumbersome title, yes -- but more descriptive of the sentiment.