How do I deal with being paranoid?

[Anonymous]

I'm having a hard time with accepting that I am paranoid.
I am aware that it is in my head because so many people have made it clear that it is. When I'm out in public I feel like people are glaring at me, talking rudely to me, judging me, laughing at me. The thing that bothers me is I physically see these things happening before my eyes but when I tell the person I'm with about it they say that I'm making it up in my head but I'm SEEING it. This scares me because if I'm actually seeing this and it's not really happening what else am I hallucinating (if that's even what's going on) I'm on meds for bipolar but I'm starting to think maybe I'm schizophrenic or something. I'm scared and going to talk to my doctor about it next week but how can I deal with these things happening in public in the mean time?

[foxritual]

This doesn't sound like schizophrenia at all. It sounds more like social anxiety. I used to have social anxiety extremely bad and had the exact same thought process. I was self conscious all the time. I was constantly afraid of what peoe were thinking about me. I'd see them doing things out if the corner of my eye and assumed they were making fun of me. I swore, mentally, that people were looking at me and talking about. Sometimes I thought I heard my name mid conversation nearby. I was very paranoid about every move people made. Anxiety and panic took over my life. It was awful. I'm a whole lot better now, thanks to Tianeptine (not a prescription medicine, it's a nootropic meant for anxiety and depression). I hope that eases your mind a little bit knowing it's not schizophrenia. That would be more debilitating than anxiety.

[Asker]

Thanks this helps a lot but I still see people blatantly glaring at me like cashiers in the grocery store. Do you think I'm some how perceiving their energy wrong? Even if I was... I don't understand how I could possibly be reading facial expressions wrong.. I'm not a stupid person and I'm not socially challanged where I can't read body language. I do suffer from horrible social anxiety

[foxritual]

I forgot to mention that paranoia in extreme cases can cause irrational thoughts and makes you over think, causing you to see things and assume incorrectly.

[foxritual]

That still sounds like social anxiety. I had that problem as well. Because I was so reclusive, I never fully understood socializing and body language. People with social anxiety don't understand social cues and body language like the average person should. I eventually went to therapy for it and they taught me how socializing works and how to stay calm when I began to feel paranoid.

[RedRobin]

Talk to someone about your paranoia