The Mind of a Paranoiac
| Date | 01 April 1982 |
| Published date | 01 April 1982 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8205500215 |
| Author | J. R. Hickmott |
| Subject Matter | Article |
J. R. HICKMOTT
THE
MIND
OF A
PARANOIAC
Many crimes result from a mental condition called paranoia; a word
now much misused by the media. Except in a gross condition of the
disorder the sufferers are almost indistinguishable from normal
people. It is not related to social position
or
conditions, its rate of
progress is extremely variable and in many cases circumstances
determine whether or not a crime will be committed.
Paranoia
is a mental disorder in which the sufferer believes himself
to be an especially superior person menaced by otherpeople. Around
this belief he builds an elaborate delusional system involving his
whole life.
It is highly probably
that
the disorder is hereditary because very
frequently there is evidence of similar disturbance in close blood
relations.
As already mentioned the paranoiac builds up an extensive
delusional system
and
uses extreme cunning to hide it from everyone
else.
Not
that
he is aware of his mental abnormality
but
rather he
believes he is superior and
that
others will persecute him because of
his superiority.
There are usually signs from birth
and
certainly by the time he
reaches school they will be evident. It will not
just
be naughtiness
but
frequent
abnormal
violence, recourse to vandalism and a violent
temper which will set him
apart
from ordinary children. Soon,
however, he learns
that
his activities
don't
pay and gradually he
begins to hide his outbursts so
that
by his late teens they may have
been almost totally submerged. Thus, he is then careful
not
to do
anything in a situation which will give his condition away.
The greatest
fear
of
an
adult
paranoiac is that he will be declared a
lunatic.
Well hidden within the paranoiac mind there is usually amodel
superior being
upon
which his delusional system is based. It may be,
say, Alexander the Great
and
his fantasy world is based
upon
what
he imagines
or
reads
about
him. Why, asks the paranoiac, have I
not
great power
and
wealth, command over othermen and the pick of the
women? Is it because ordinary people
are
conspiring to prevent me
from achieving my true position in life. However, it must
not
be
imagined
that
the paranoiac goes
around
dressed for the part. It is
only the characteristics of his model
that
he emulates.
The paranoiac has
another
problem - he
cannot
fall in love in the
normal sense of the word. Only the greatest, most beautiful
and
most
important
woman is suitable to his position. Ordinary women are
rubbish in his eyes and he resents having to use them. When he does
his overriding desire is to humiliate"
and
denigrate them in any
184 April 1982
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