Paranoia

Paranoia is on the rise, according to this article from Associated Press. Some excerpts:

"Paranoia is defined as the exaggerated or unfounded fear that others are trying to hurt you. That includes thoughts that other people are trying to upset or annoy you, for example, by staring, laughing, or making unfriendly gestures.

Surveys of several thousands of people in Britain, the United States and elsewhere have found that rates of paranoia are slowly rising, although researchers' estimates of how many of us have paranoid thoughts varies widely, from 5 percent to 50 percent."

Personally I find it most likely that the main reason for this development is that more people are actual assholes, and that this "paranoia" is largely based on a rational evaluation. I know for a fact YOU people are out to get me all the time, so I'm not surprised others reach the same conclusion. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to curl up under my desk with a tin foil hat, a shotgun and a comfort blanket until the voices tell me it's safe to come out again.