how do you deal with paranoia?

[sjel]

the type that defies logic. When you think people are talking about you, when obviously, logically, they are not. When there's a sort of pervading sense of unease/fear.

So far I've managed pretty well, it's not too powerful, but I sense I'll have to deal with some heavy paranoia catalyst in my future. My best method right now is, "Okay, something bad will happen. So what? Even in the worst case scenario, all is well." Holding on to that idea usually dissipates the deep negativity. What do you do? I'm sure many here have had to deal with some pretty bad paranoia...

[Minyatur]

All there is to do is work with the energy. It feels bad, ok, let's try to make it feel better and ease tbe uneasiness. I think emotions already contain the information required to distill them, we need to let them sink to contemplate them and apply a more balance perspective of what makes it feel wrong. To feel differently about it.

You can wonder about the source of the paranoia, best case scenario you're healing someone through some form of link you share.

[anagogy]

Well, its a tricky situation because you are focused on the paranoia, which activates the vibration of paranoia which involves thoughts of "people are talking about me" which generates or attracts more experiences to feel paranoid about. If you think about people looking at you, you will start to notice a lot of people looking at you. And same goes for talking about you, or whatever. A manifestation will come in to fill the vacuum of expectation.

So you have to find a way to not focus on the thoughts of a paranoia. Fun riddle right? It's like a Chinese finger trap, in a way.

But if you want my opinion, this psychological distortion usually stems from the distortion known as self esteem issues (which are perfectly common and understandable).

If I were you I would spend more time contemplating various ways in which you are skilled, intelligent, like-able, and worthy, because the distortion almost always emanates from a belief in the opposite of those things. Don't worry about overly inflating your sense of ego. People who struggle with self esteem issues have an underdeveloped ego, and what would equate to over inflation to another is, in fact, perfectly balanced for some other people.

Stroke that ego! You're the man!  

[Mahakali]

I usually ruminate on it until I completely withdraw from the world into a deep, nihilistic hatred of all things living and begin plotting revenge on the world that has wronged me, constantly fantasizing about exactly what the faces of my enemies will look like when I get my hands on them.

YMMV.

[OpalE]

the type that defies logic. When you think people are talking about you, when obviously, logically, they are not. When there's a sort of pervading sense of unease/fear.

Sometimes they are. I've experienced this and have witnessed third parties being targeted in this manner. I'm pretty sure i've participated. People seemingly having their own unrelated conversations, but the words seem to relate way too closely recent experiences / current dilemmas and sometimes even speaking exactly what you're thinking or phrases recently said in private. Sometimes it just sounds like random insults and criticisms. Once you notice it, every laugh and snicker seems pointed at you. The experience intensifies and more people seem to "be in on it."

Many seem to have no clue they're participating in this, but sometimes the people doing it are fully aware of your discomfort. They know that they are the cause, enjoy this, and "tap into it harder" to intensify it. The few people i've confronted eventually acknowledge it (with a couple of exceptions). Explanations vary (some more in depth than others), but usually contain something along these lines:

"I know i'm doing it, but it doesn't work if i think about it." "I don't know why, the words just come to me."

One person said: "It's just a way to feed, and what is taken is used to further feed."

If this is happening to you, it's like a mark you wear that says you're vulnerable, or a mind-state you fall into that attracts more of the same the deeper you go. People who recognize this mark and strike are not always aware of what they are doing ... it can work through people emotionally close to you without them even knowing it (so try not to always take it too personally).

The more it accomplishes what it's supposed to, the more it will happen. The more you focus on it / expect it, the more it will happen. Don't get scared. Don't let your breath go rapid and shallow. Don't let your attention fixate on "the people doing this." Couple things that worked for me:

Deeeep, looong breaths (that reach as far down towards your taint as possible) & "exhaling" or "melting" the tension in the body. The lower abdomen will want to tighten automatically while it's happening, forcing quick and shallow breathing.

Blank the mind, don't let your attention fixate on what is being said/done or how you fear it may relate to you. Hear it, but try not to think about it. Watch, but don't try to define. Just observe and relax. Acknowledge that you don't understand what is happening, then just observe what is. Take in your entire surroundings, not just the "object(s) of your paranoia."

If you're having trouble not fixating, a mantra or prayer repeated with the breath usually does wonders (silent usually works fine, but at very intense times i would mutter or whisper them). Choose (or write) the mantras/prayers intentionally (beforehand if possible). Make them meaningful and relevant in a way you understand.

"Soft gazing" at things helped ... looking at things while relaxing your eyes, taking them in aesthetically but not thinking about them (still focusing on the breath). Just look. Letting the eyes trace the edges of things slowly while relaxing them as much as possible worked very well for me. So did studying minute visual details and patterns in a calm and detached manner. (The breathing, however, is paramount in times of fear and paranoia. First and foremost, deepen and lower the breath and use it to relax the body.)

[tamaryn]

Ignore It. If it is truly illusion.

[Plenum]

What do you do? I'm sure many here have had to deal with some pretty bad paranoia...

these are usually indicators, like everything else.

you can try to find the deeper conceptual pattern, which will help in balancing those thought patterns.

[tamaryn]

Balance is not found with 'Balancing' if that is what you meant. I imagine this way as a deep zooming in on an object consciousness is already watching. But why zoom in at all?

Perhaps paranoia is the act of uncontrollable zooming in. To no end of illusions.

Balance is Effortless. Don't do anything about it. This is the turning away from the object, for the subject to witness only itself, and ignore every thing else. This paradoxically, creates a panoramic, and still focal point to observe the passing of things. From this Silent one.

"Even though The Body is Doing all these actions, I Do Nothing"

[Plenum]

well, as the OP stated, there's some sense of forward looking attached to this.

The mind is by nature, a projective instrument, trying to plot a course through potential events.

the thing is: why are some experiences deemed to be undesirable? It's that resistance to the consequences of a potential experience that generates the resistance in the mind to that potential event.

hence it plays out in the mind as a present fear/fantasy, as the mind becomes 'trapped' in that resistance.

[Nicholas]

My wife could very much create several pages on this topic if she was so inclined. But hey ho, I await with glee for the day she pushes me off the computer chair!

This is a major catalyst for both of us, both in terms of how it affects her and how I respond to it. Objective busy-ness is a great antidote in the immediate, talking therapy can be catalytic to grasping it's roots in the longer term. (like here for example)

Or you can simply challenge yourself when it arises and do the opposite to how you would normally respond (the lion metaphor of courage and strength). After all, it's subjective, so putting your hand in the fire won't result in skin burns, as you are aware, but name calling burns far deeper than the superficial pain of having sticks and stones thrown at us. 

Or there is this philosophical mantra: What anybody thinks or says about you is none of your business