Schizophrenia is a devastating brain disorder that affects 1 percent of the world's population. Symptoms usually first appear in the late teens or early 20s, the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) states. Paranoid schizophrenia, a subtype of schizophrenia, occurs more often in males. Paranoid schizophrenics are often better able to function in society than people with other subtypes, whose symptoms interfere more with thought processes and daily living activities, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Delusions
One of the hallmark symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia is the presence of delusions, the Mayo Clinic explains. Delusions, described as fixed, false beliefs, are positive symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia, which means they cause exaggerated, distorted behaviors. Delusions can be bizarre or non-bizarre, the UMMC states. Bizarre delusions might include believing that aliens are controlling your behavior, or that people in your life have been replaced by robots. Non-bizarre delusions might be a feelings that people are following you or that coworkers are trying to poison you.
Delusions of grandeur are common; you may believe you're the long-lost son of someone famous or that you have supernatural powers. Delusions of reference means you believe that articles in newspapers, signs on buildings or television shows have secret messages directed at you. Delusions of thought withdrawal or thought-insertion symptoms are a belief that people can read your mind or that you can control other people's thoughts, according to the Merck Manual.
Hallucinations
Hallucinations are another major symptom of paranoid schizophrenia. Auditory hallucinations are voices only the paranoid schizophrenic can hear; 70 percent of people with schizophrenia have auditory hallucinations, the UMMC reports. There may be one voice or several; the voices may talk to each other or to the person hearing them. Voices are usually unpleasant, according to the Mayo Clinic. People with schizophrenia may talk back to the voices out loud; the voices may be telling them to do something or telling them something bad about themselves.
Less-frequent hallucinations are visual, tactile or olfactory (odorous); auditory hallucinations are the most common. Hallucinations can cause paranoid to schizophrenic to do violent things, either to obey the voices or to get rid of them.
Other Symptoms
Delusions and hallucinations cause many abnormal social behaviors in paranoid schizophrenics. They may be anxious, furtive or secretive, especially if they feel they're being watched. Some become angry and violent. People whose delusions make them feel superior to others may be aloof or patronizing. Paranoid schizophrenia can drive a person to suicide; 10 percent of people with schizophrenia commit suicide, the Merck Manual states.
