The unreasonable fears and irrational doubts and suspicions that a paranoid person harbors in himself for everyone around him makes it really difficult for others to deal with him. But if someone you are close to or have to face everyday is a paranoid, then you must know how to deal with him correctly.
Understand that it is a genuine problem
Suffering from paranoia is a genuine problem that often is cured only by medical intervention. Though many times, paranoia occurs to people out of insecurities for some particular matter or a particular person. For instance, a wife may become paranoid about her relationship with her husband if she feels insecure in the relationship for some reason or an employee may suffer from paranoia out of fear of losing his job, etc. Whatever the kind of paranoia it might be, more often than not it is beyond the control of the person suffering from it. You must understand this fact so that you are mentally prepared to deal with the person in the correct manner.
Change your attitude and behavior towards the paranoid person
You must change the way you behave with a paranoid person so that you deal with him appropriately. It is important to develop empathy for him. You must be patient in dealing with the person and that must show in your behavior. Restrain from losing your calm even when the person shows his distrust on you, brings irrational allegations against you or behaves rudely with you. Understand the fact that they are suffering from tremendous mental unrest and trauma and are in pain themselves because of it. Do not take their rudeness or their irrational attitude towards you personally. Rather, show to the person that you understand his problem and are genuinely concerned about him. Develop a caring nature towards him and make him feel cared and loved for.
Spend more time with him and create an open communication system
Encourage the person suffering from paranoia to share his feelings with you. Open doors for free flow of communication between you and him. He must not hide or suppress his fears, suspicions and other negative feelings. Doing so would help such negative feelings and thoughts increase in leaps and bounds. While he speaks about his thoughts and fears, listen with patience and concern. At the same time, share about your day, views on different things, etc. in a truthful way. Make the communication system between you two transparent and honest. Apart from creating a good communication system, try to spend more time with the concerned person. The more time you spend with the person and the more he communicates with you, the less he is to distrust you. This means that his fears and distrust would reduce over time. However, if this is a medical condition and not a simpler form of paranoia, then you may have to face his panic attacks later on even after these and he would still need treatment to get completely cured.
Help him stay calm and reassure him
A paranoid person would lose his calm the moment his fears take control of him. He would be overpowered by his fears and lose the ability to think or act rationally. So, you should make every effort so that such moments never arise and panic attacks do not occur. Try to keep the concerned person away and distracted from his fears and irrational thinking. This might be truly difficult to achieve though. Try to calm him down as soon as you find the first signs of his paranoia taking over him. You must reassure him and try to convince him that his fears are unreasonable and without any base or truth. Try to make him realize and believe that there is nothing to fear and his doubts are unfounded.
Help him get treatment
If it is a serious case of paranoia, then the paranoid person would need to get medical attention to get rid of his problem. Though the concerned person might not show interest in getting treatment or might be severely against the idea of going to a doctor, you must convince him to meet a medical expert who can cure him of the disorder. If needed, you should force him to get treatment from a medical practitioner who is an expert in treating paranoia and similar mental disorders. Do not feel bad or guilty for going against the will of the paranoid person and forcing him to get treatment. Understand that getting diagnosed correctly followed up by a suitable treatment is mandatory for such patients without which they will not be able to come out of their pathetic condition. So, help the person in getting the right treatment and come out of the disorder successfully.
