Paranoia And Lack Of Minerals

Paranoia is defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a "state or attitude of suspicion and mistrust or conviction that something bad will happen, or that enemies want to persecute or mistreat them." Though paranoia is most commonly associated with paranoid schizophrenia, paranoia is also a symptom of delusional disorder, manic episodes and paranoid personality disorder. Though dopamine has proven to be implicated in the development of delusions, scientists continue to study how various vitamins and minerals might impact the disorder.

Paranoia and Vitamin B-12

A common mineral implicated in mental illness causation is vitamin B-12. In 2003, scientists in France reported on a case involving neurocognitve disease, vitamin and mineral deficiency, and paranoia. Their outline of the case of "Mme. V" details her presentation of delusions, paranoia, depression and confusion. The discussion reveals that Mme. V was treated with a combination of vitamin B-12 replacement therapy, hydroxycobalamin, and iron replacement therapy. The case study, which was published in the journal, "Encephale," concludes by stating that vitamin B-12 should augment all medications given to psychiatric patients.

Obesity and Paranoia

Researchers have looked at people with poor nutrition habits that have expressed themselves as obesity for clues to how lack of minerals correlate with paranoia. Doctors in Rome looked at psychiatric differences in obese patients, some of whom were requesting bariatric surgery, and others who tried a diet plus a psychotherapy approach. Their hypothesis was that some correlation exists among obesity, nutrition, treatment choice and psychopathology. Their results, which were published in a 2006 edition of the journal "Obesity Surgery," found that both groups of patients scored high on self-report measures of paranoia and thought distortion, with the nonsurgery group's levels more elevated.

Nutrition, Paranoia and Psychopathology

An additional study looking at lack of minerals and nutrition in paranoia studied general characteristics of obese women. Self-report measures of psychopathology, including the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, were given to a group of women by researchers in a classic study conducted in 1979. The obese group scored high on scales of paranoia, depression, hysteria, and psychopathic deviance. Though this study is not contemporary, the results, which were originally published in the "International Journal of Obesity," suggest that nutrition and psychopathology are connected and that the same lack of nutrients that leads to obesity might also lead to paranoia.

Putting It All Together

At the time of this publication in June 2011, no studies conclusively link lack of minerals, vitamins and other nutrients to the development of paranoia. However, research does correlate obesity, with an assumed deficit of nutrients, to increased risk for psychopathology. As such, individuals concerned with their weight and who have a tendency toward paranoia should discuss healthy lifestyle plans with a doctor and registered dietitian.