Paranoid anxiety is a term used in

object relations theory Object relations theory is a school of thought in psychoanalytic theory centered around theories of stages of ego development. Its concerns include the relation of the psyche to others in childhood and the exploration of relationships between ...

, particularity in discussions about the

Paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions In development psychology, Melanie Klein proposed a "(psychic) position theory" instead of a " (psychic) stage theory". Paranoid-schizoid position In object relations theory, the paranoid-schizoid position is a state of mind of children, from bi ...

. The term was frequently used by

Melanie Klein Melanie Klein (née Reizes; 30 March 1882 – 22 September 1960) was an Austrian-British author and psychoanalyst known for her work in child analysis. She was the primary figure in the development of object relations theory. Klein suggested tha ...

, especially to refer to a pre-depressive and persecutory sense of anxiety characterised by the psychological splitting of objects.

Further developments

Donald Meltzer Donald Meltzer (1922–2004) was a Kleinian psychoanalyst whose teaching made him influential in many countries. He became known for making clinical headway with difficult childhood conditions such as autism, and also for his theoretical innovati ...

saw paranoid anxiety as linked not only to a loss of trust in the goodness of objects, but also to a confusion between feeling and thought. For the extreme forms of such anxiety, he coined the term 'terror', to convey something of the qualitatively different intensity of their nature.

External sources

Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts in ...

considered that there was generally a small kernel of truth hidden in the exaggerated anxiety of the paranoid - what

Hanns Sachs Hanns Sachs (; 10 January 1881, in Vienna – 10 January 1947, in Boston) was one of the earliest psychoanalysts, and a close personal friend of Sigmund Freud. He became a member of Freud's Secret Committee of six in 1912, Freud describing him as ...

described as an amoeba about to become monster. The anti-psychiatrist David Cooper argued indeed that "The therapist in working with people might far more often have to confirm the reality of paranoid fears than in any sense disconfirm or attempt to modify them", but most family therapists would probably agree that this is an extreme and one-sided position.

Defensive functions

Idealisation (as in the

transference Transference (german: Übertragung) is a phenomenon within psychotherapy in which the "feelings, attitudes, or desires" a person had about one thing are subconsciously projected onto the here-and-now Other. It usually concerns feelings from a ...

) can be used as a defence against deeper paranoid anxieties about the actual presence of a destructive, denigrating object. Conversely, paranoid fears, especially when systematised, may themselves serve as a defence against a deeper, chaotic disintegration of the personality.

Persecutory anxiety state (panic attack) and persecutory delusion

Paranoid anxiety may reach the level of a persecutory anxiety state (a form of ''

panic attack Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear and discomfort that may include palpitations, sweating, chest pain or chest discomfort, shortness of breath, trembling, dizziness, numbness, confusion, or a feeling of impending doom or of losing ...

''), including various levels of

persecutory delusion A persecutory delusion is a common type of delusional condition in which the affected person believes that harm is going to occur to oneself by a persecutor, despite a clear lack of evidence. The person may believe that they are being targeted by a ...

s (the preferred term to ''paranoid delusions''). Heavy drinking is said to sometimes precipitate acute paranoid panic – the protagonist's unconscious hostile impulses being

projected Projected is an American rock supergroup consisting of Sevendust members John Connolly and Vinnie Hornsby, Alter Bridge and Creed drummer Scott Phillips, and former Submersed and current Tremonti guitarist Eric Friedman. The band released t ...

onto all those around.

Literary examples

Hamm in ''Endgame'' by

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

has been singled out as a character driven by paranoid anxiety.Meltzer et al, p. 176-7 Noboru in '' The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea'' by

Yukio Mishima , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was ...

is shown to have persecutory anxiety

References

External links

On the Dynamics of Social Structure : A Contribution to the Psycho-Analytical Study of Social Phenomena
article has discussions of defenses. See headings: ''defenses against paranoid anxiety'' and ''defenses against depressive anxiety.'' {{Delusion Delusional disorders Paranoia Object relations theory