What is paranoid personality disorder (PPD)?
Paranoid personality disorder (PPD) is a mental health condition marked by a long-term pattern of distrust and suspicion of others without adequate reason to be suspicious (paranoia). People with PPD often believe that others are trying to demean, harm or threaten them.
People with paranoid personality disorder often don’t think their behavior and way of thinking are problematic.
PPD is one of a group of conditions called Cluster A, or eccentric personality disorders. People with these disorders have unusual and eccentric thinking or behavior.
It’s important to note that people with paranoid personality disorder don’t experience delusions or hallucinations with paranoia, as commonly seen in schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and severe manic episodes in bipolar disorder.
What age does paranoid personality disorder begin?
People with paranoid personality disorder typically start experiencing symptoms and showing signs of the condition by their late teens or early adult years.
Who does paranoid personality disorder affect?
Overall, research reveals higher rates of paranoid personality disorder (PPD) in people assigned female at birth (AFAB), while samples from hospital records reveal higher rates of PPD in people assigned male at birth (AMAB).
People with PPD are more likely to:
- Live in low-income households.
- Be Black, Native American or Hispanic.
- Be widowed, divorced or separated or never married.
More research is needed to learn more about why these risk factors are associated with PPD and how stress and trauma play a role in its development.
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How common is paranoid personality disorder?
Paranoid personality disorder is relatively rare. Researchers estimate that it affects 0.5% to 4.5% of the general U.S. population.
