Hi, WishIgotHelp, I don't think you're paranoid. That's a negative classification, in my opinion, that people use to make you feel like your experiences aren't real, or are exaggerated & don't really count. Maybe "they" have never experienced what you have seen or experienced personally. Anyway, the way I see it, your brain is doing what it's supposed to do, protect you, remind you of your responsibility to your entire system of cells to watch out for predators & stay alive. You witnessed & experienced, first hand, life threatening events in your personal environment. Maybe you could move to a safer place, & in time your brain would allow you to feel less "paranoid?"