Paranoia

’A TRULY IMPORTANT BOOK’ JOHN HUMPHRYS

What is paranoia? What makes us mistrustful? How can this be overcome?
In Paranoia, Daniel Freeman, a Professor of Clinical Psychology at Oxford, shows how suspicion is rife, how conspiracy theories circulate like never before and how all too often emotion trumps evidence. This book is a shocking expose of the extreme levels of mistrust in our society.

For fans of Quiet, Why We Sleep and It’s All in Your Head, this highly innovative book uses case studies and new science to examine paranoia: how it forms, how it can be linked to trauma, to sleep, to conspiracy beliefs and relationships with authority and other people – and its wider, subtle effects on us as a society.

This is also a practical book. Freeman has spent thirty years steering the vanguard of clinical research. His career is unparalleled, spanning the field’s transformation from being almost entirely focused on pharmaceutical responses to embracing the power of therapy and behavioural support. Leaning on his expertise, Freeman shows us how we can measure our own levels of mistrust. He explains how we can remedy things if that level is higher than we’d like, because although mistrust can seem engrained, things can change for the better. Ultimately, it can be overcome.

With stories ranging from patients with the most extreme forms of mistrust to people with more everyday anxieties, this book will change the way we think about paranoia.

‘This is a fascinating and deeply personal story of a career spent understanding and treating extreme mistrust and anxiety. Daniel Freeman's brilliant book guides us through his groundbreaking experiments, pioneering treatments and profound insights on paranoia. This is a fascinating read for anyone who wants to understand the human mind, not least because we hear the voices of those whose lives have been consumed by this crippling condition’
Professor Russell Foster FRS, University of Oxford