Paranoia : A Journey into Extreme Mistrust and Anxiety

'A TRULY IMPORTANT BOOK’ JOHN HUMPHRYS 'FASCINATING… SHOCKING' SPECTATOR What is paranoia?What makes us mistrustful? How can this be overcome? Daniel Freeman, Professor of Psychology at Oxford, has spent thirty years at the vanguard of paranoia research and treatment.This remarkable and moving book tells the story of that journey. For decades, conventional wisdom held that paranoia was only experienced by people with severe mental health problems and little could be done to rectify its disastrous effects.Paranoia gives us a front row seat as Freeman turns the traditional view on its head. He develops life-changing treatments for clinical paranoia - often using state-of-the-art technology like virtual reality.He reveals that suspicion is rife in society, with paranoia widespread, conspiracy theories rampant and emotion all too often trumping evidence.He discovers the causes of mistrust, including the role of genes, trauma, lack of sleep, worry, low self-confidence, cannabis use and hear