In this insightful book, the author vividly takes the reader inside the minds of people who are paranoid: experiencing delusions of persecution ranging from thinking others are out to get them to falsely believing they have physical illness. Kantor also explains to us other facets of the Paranoid Personality, including suspiciousness, hypersensitivity, extreme vigilance, simmering anger, and a tendency to blame others for and absolve oneself of almost everything. How does such paranoia affect one's life? Whether one is a paranoiac wanting to recover from the emotional disorder, or a person looking for the best way to deal with a paranoid husband, wife, friend, boss, or acquaintance, this book offers understanding and guidance. As Kantor explains, the term paranoid should not be used as a hurtful epithet. Paranoid individuals are no more or less evil than persons with any other emotional disorder, or for that matter, persons with a physical disorder. Paranoia is a disorder of the mind, not a flaw of character, says Kantor.

Paranoid individuals are not invariably social misfits. They are found in all walks of life and in all professions, suffering from this disorder that distorts behavior and affects those with whom they come in contact, often in devastating ways. Politicians who write attack ads, spouses who beat or kill their partners, people in road or supermarket rage incidents are all among the possibly paranoid, as are students who perpetrate violence at their schools and fired employees who wreak violence at their former workplaces. Recognizing and treating paranoid behaviors can prevent or reduce antisocial activity and violence against individuals and society.

Martin Kantor, MD is a Harvard psychiatrist who has been in full private practice in Boston and New York City, and active in residency training programs at several hospitals, including Massachusetts General and Beth Israel in New York. He also served as Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical School and as Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey--New Jersey Medical School. He is currently a full-time medical author, the author of more than a dozen other books, including Homophobia, Second Edition (Praeger 2009); Uncle Sam's Shame: Inside the Veteran's Administration (Praeger 2008); Lifting the Weight: Understanding Depression in Men: Its Causes and Solutions (Praeger 2007); The Psychopathy of Everyday Life: How Antisocial Personality Disorder Affects All of Us (Praeger, 2006); Understanding Paranoia: A Guide for Professional, Families, and Sufferers (Praeger 2004); Distancing: Avoidant Personality Disorder, Revised and Expanded (Praeger, 2003), Passive-Aggression: A Guide for the Therapist, the Patient, and the Victim (Praeger, 2002), Treating Emotional Disorder in Gay Men (Praeger, 1999), and Homophobia (Praeger, 1998).