Reality checking is hard. Very, very hard.

One thing I do is ask myself questions. I tell myself the oposite of things.

"Why would she laugh at you? She's probably laughing about a funny joke she heard." That's a good combination. Then, when my mind comes back at with me with things like "But you just walked by her office" or something, then I have to think "But, that could be coincidance. I have no proof." It's kind of like an argument I have with myself. It's just trying to talk yourself out of it. Since I am not in therapy, that's really all the strategy I have.

Another way to reality check is to bring the subject up to my husband. Sometimes, if he's the focus of the paranoia, this is really hard to do. But, usually he is very good about grounding me. Like, when I think our neighbors are spying on us, I know if he is thinking the same thing that it's not just in my head... (We do actually have one neighbor we can't trust, which really sucks when you are already paranoid as it is.)