How much paranoia is "normal" for "us"

I have been getting some pretty paranoid thoughts...and images in my head. I have had these as a child but of course they come and go...they aren't daily or anything.

Lately I have been getting phone calls from the entrance of my building....it is always at night and I am not expecting anyone and I can't see who it is. I don't answer because right away, I assume it is someone stalking the building to see who is home and who isn't and then I get thoughts and images of me being mutilated in my bed. I don't ever answer because even hearing the voice will send me into a paranoid state.

I "see" scary images in either my "field of vision" or minds' eye. It is like a horror movie is turning on and off in my head.

Is this "normal" for us?

[monkeyc]

No.

Thats the short answer.  Something is not working in your medications or your life right now is a guess.  

Yes paranoia is normal, we all get it, I get it a lot actually but the level you are getting is not normal at all.  Have you found yourself wondering if the phone calls are real?  

I worry about the scary images, these sound like hallucinations or delusions.

Have you spoken to your doctor?  It might be a realy good idea, paranoia is a sign things are not right and when it gets worse and worse it can be a sign things are decompensating - this is the time to ring your doctor ok and talk to them.

I have horrible paranoia when meds are not working but very little when they are.

This time of year can be very hard on us, it seems to cause paranoia and worry; its the parties, the forced jolliness, the presents and all the rest.  This means that things starting to get worse is a sign for you to get some help, there's no harm in speaking to someone.

Stay safe ok and promise me if things turn worse and you start getting worse images and fear builds that you will go to hospital ok - please.  We dont want to see people hurt themselves.

[BipolarBear75]

Hi, I really didn't realize that it was getting that bad I guess....until now. It comes in waves really....like hypomania or something.

I had recurring thoughts of my mother being mutilated right in front of me throughout my childhood.

I always thought it was normal....believe it or not.

I do promise that I will go get help ....but I know that I don't want to hurt myself....I have fears of others hurting me. I have another appt on Jan 14. I will tell my pdoc then....or do you think it is serious enough to call now?

I really don't see it as a medication thing...because they were working so well....in all other aspects. I just figured it was my overactive imagination.

The call is real because my boyfriend was over and heard the phone ring and I wouldn't answer...I know he thinks I am hiding something...like a another guy or something...but I am hiding my paranoia....but he knows I am bipolar so i wrote to him today about my real reason for not answering. I got another call after he left....which fed my paranoia cause then I thought they watched him leave and I was alone now and "they" knew it.

So this is not normal....great....I guess I will bring this to the drawing board at my next appt. Thanks so much...if you come up with anything else....please let me know.  

[monkeyc]

No its not but the situation with your phone bothers me.

Do you have security issues in your building?  because odd phone calls to a woman alone in the house at night is one thing, one just after her boyfriend leaves..

There might be a real issue here as well as the paranoia - Id talk to your building super perhaps and if it does not stop there might be a problem there, nothing to be afraid of as its likely kids pranking you but this is something you can act on perhaps.

This is the bugger of BP isnt it - where does imagination leave off and hallucination and delusion begin - sometimes its a pain working it out and you start second guessing yourself - is he really mad or just me being paranoid or is he really etc etc.

Im sure you know what I mean.

[LeftCoastChick]

Sweetie, that isn't hypomania, you are having delusional thoughts. You have what they call Bipolar Psychosis, which includes paranoia, intrusive thoughts. You are also hallucinating a bit. Have you had this happen before, are you on meds then stopped them? You really need to head down to your local ER. Waiting 3 weeks may make things really bad, if you start doing something because of the symptoms, better you go in then, if you do something that's harmful to yourself and they could  commit you . I took myself to the hospital when i was really manic and suicidal, if I'd been taken in, it would have been worse. Folks that are "papered" where I live can't go outside even for a cigarette, the woman next to me was having BP psychosis, thinking he ex was communicating through her computer. She was brought in by an ambulance. She was tweaking badly even with the patch because she couldn't go outside!

I'm glad you're going to see your pdoc, see if you can get in earlier, or call this morn, and tell your pdoc what is going on. :) Hang in there.

I had my buzzer buzzed for a while, weird, but I found out from my landlord, people will try that to get into the bldg so they have a warm place to crash and/or steal. I used to see that a lot with people soliciting things, even girlguide cookies!

[ILADVOCATE]

The important thing to remember is what I learned about current knowledge of bipolar with psychotic features. Before I recovered from schizoaffective disorder I had psychotic thoughts all the time (and even myself, despite how well the experimental antipsychotic works, I still need a working mood stabilizer or things appear out of proportion in their intensity which to an extent is paranoia or I have an inflated sense of importance which borders on grandiosity) which is typical for schizoaffective disorder. With bipolar with psychotic features if a person's mood is euthymic (normal) at that point they aren't experiencing psychotic thoughts but if they are manic or depressed they are. So you may indeed be hypomanic. But the thoughts you are experiencing are psychotic. Both can occur at the same time.
   So besides a working mood stabilizer you would need an antipsychotic. Which is not to say if there are safety issues in the build not to discuss them with the building management. The problem is your reality testing has lowered so they might not take them seriously and you might have reacted to something that wasn't happenning. That happenned to me all the time before recovery and its definitely of concern and if goes away when you are in between manic and depressed, that doesn't mean it won't come back when you are again.

[therese83]

/you have some good advice there:

But Please follow up the phone call thing.  is it accesable to people passing?  If it is not and it is someone in the building then call the police.