[Rachie]

I get really paranoid that someone is going to break into my house and hurt me or my family. Im lying in bed at the moment but cannot get to sleep because of this. I get so scared sometimes that i nearly give myself a panic attack. The more i try not to be paranoid about this the more i hear and think of things that are happening. Help me am i just nuts. I hate being like this. Nothing else really scares me except for this. Its not just at home that i think someone might attack me, i can be parked in my car by myself and have to lock the doors because i think something is going to happen, heck i could be driving sometimes and have to lock the doors because i scare myself . Is this a part of BPD or could it be something else?

[pachyderm]

Originally Posted by Rachie

i can be parked in my car by myself and have to lock the doors because i think something is going to happen, heck i could be driving sometimes and have to lock the doors because i scare myself . Is this a part of BPD or could it be something else?

I drive my car with its doors locked all the time. Depending on where you live, it seems to me that is a reasonable precaution!

Being "paranoid" can be a part of BPD or of many other emotional disorders. I think it is just an exaggeration of normal fears, which are not all unreasonable. It is a good thing if you can give yourself the permission to think that you deserve to be safe -- and then try to establish some understanding of what fears are reasonable now and what fears may stem from long-ago experiences.

[Michah]

Sweetie, paranoia is part of hypervigilance.......which is definitely a feature of BPD but also PTSD.......sometimes the lines are blureed....I spend little time wondering what it is part of......it just IS!!

I still to this day, have terrible nightmares about my son and my dog being hurt, I sleep with one eye open, I can hear a pin drop and I have the reflexes of a cat when I need to. I resent answering the phone, opening the mail and still listen to the tell tale click of my phone being tapped......I don't necessarily "suffer" from it anymore because I KNOW it and accept it. I also know the things that ultimately trigger it. i am chronically physically unwell so that makes the fear worse sometimes.

A funny story, when I wanted to get a dog(I LOVE chihuahuas!) My partner said to me "Why to we need a dog when we have you babe? You guard the house, mark your territory, bite strangers at the door and protect us with your life" I was very honoured to be compared to my canine friends! I love dogs......my baby Coco girl chihuahua and I monitor this house like a well oiled machine.......yep, i am hypervigilant.....

In will be in flux sweets.......embrace it and it will become a little less potent.......I know it can be terrifying, exhausting and just plain nuts, but it will come and go, ultimately go eventually

You take care of you and be kind to yourself.......

[Rachie]

Thanks guys ive been a really paranoid person for aslong as i can remember. I dont know why im so paranoid about certain things. Guess thats just the way i am lol. Hopefully i can try and control it, im sick of not being able to sleep some nights because im scared someones going to jump thru the window and attack me...

[hgray104]

I have exactly the same problem. I am scared at night. If you were abused as a child, this could have something to do with it. I was hyper-vigilant as a child, listening at night for my dad to go to bed so I could sleep. Too many nights woken up and dragged out of bed... Now, I'm paranoid in a different way (people breaking in, etc), but I think it is related to childhood.

[Fuzzybear]

short answer, its part of many disorders. Its good you have insight into yourself.

[Phoenix1985]

I get paranoid about people watching me. It's why I wait til like 11pm to put my rubbish in the bin the is like a 1.5 metres (maybe 5 feet?) from my door. It's normally not that bad that I've feel the need for anything, but recently I saw one of my neighbours watching me and the really set it off that night when I had to take the rubbish out - I stood at the door and balled my eyes out. Next day I couldn't handle people and if anyone got too close to me I felt like I was gonna fully freak out. That's why I'm now on Seroquel. Feel better for it.

So yeah, please don't think you're alone with paranoia. Like the others have said, you learn to cope

((((((((HUGS EVERYONE))))))))

[Rachie]

I hate being paranoid! I also get paranoid when i go out with friends to the pub or to a club that people are looking at me and talking about me. Its so annoying! Im paranoid right now heaps of weird noises outside. I was never abused like that as a child that i know of anyway, mainly just emotionally and sometimes physically. ((((((((((everyone)))))))))) thanks for replying

[Fuzzybear]

Emotional abuse, and physical abuse in childhood are also very damaging.
(and for the record I don't think I give good advice either ) re other post)

[Rachie]

Originally Posted by Fuzzybear

Emotional abuse, and physical abuse in childhood are also very damaging.
(and for the record I don't think I give good advice either ) re other post)

i think you give great advice fuzzy

[monroe18]

Ive been reciving newsletters from here for a while, started to type for some advice and id get muddled up confused and then forget as you can guess i then think 'forget it' somthing i tell myself ofter but never do lol

I just wanted to say eventhough i know u have had alot of other replies that i have done taht since i can remember! i have bpd, serve depression and anxiety. I remember being curled up in the coner of my bed(against the wall facing the door) darent not to move my head just my eyes so i could keep an eye on both the door and window sure somthing or somone was going to hurt me or i dont know what realy, i would loose my voise when trying to call for my mum after what seemed like hours sweating and shaking i think i oftern blacked out too. id finaly get the fight to run straight to my mams room across the landing in a horrible state and tell her is had a nightmare not sure of what had happened or have a panic attack n eventually fall asleep. Im 19 now and had a similar time when me my partner and our friends which are a couple stayed over at a cottage i stayed up most of the night convinced the peoples cottage who we were staying in were going to butcher us or harm our friends in the other room, i feel ashamed and babyish. Life absoloutly scares the life from me im suprised im still alive that my body or mind hasnt shut down. I have experiences like this a awful lot and other paranoid things but i won't go on any longer as im not sure u will even read this because i dnt realy know how this works but anyway..

I totaly feel for you, thanks to this i will sleep(hopefully) tonight and will tell my partner tomorrow about this and im sure he will feel for you too if that gives you any comfort. I wish you all the best its nice to know im not alone when im in crisis i have before held out my hand and prayed sombody knows what its like to feel this way with me althougth i wish non of it exist and we were all happy but no its clearly not how life is. Please take care xx

[BlueMoon6]

Hi Rachie- I also have those fears- that someone will come in through the window and hurt me and steal my children. I hate for them to sleep in another room. We all slept in the same room (with king and queens size beds) when they were little. As they got older, of course, they went into their own rooms, but it makes me scared at night.

[lesasworld]

Originally Posted by Rachie

I get really paranoid that someone is going to break into my house and hurt me or my family. Im lying in bed at the moment but cannot get to sleep because of this. I get so scared sometimes that i nearly give myself a panic attack. The more i try not to be paranoid about this the more i hear and think of things that are happening. Help me am i just nuts. I hate being like this. Nothing else really scares me except for this. Its not just at home that i think someone might attack me, i can be parked in my car by myself and have to lock the doors because i think something is going to happen, heck i could be driving sometimes and have to lock the doors because i scare myself . Is this a part of BPD or could it be something else?

OMG!! I have the same problem! I'd be downstairs and turn all the outside lights on because I thought someone was going to break in. I've had many, many sleepless nights because of this. I thought it was something only I was going through! I feel for you. I wish I could stop it also.

[easy goer]

my wife experiences something like this; however when she feels it very extremely it is time to see a doctor. For instance if she starts to project her feelings on our pet, like she "knows" the dog has to go to the bathroom (as she has to go). THen it's time to see a doctor.

I would see a doctor if symptoms persist. Or if you have really vivid images. Or if unable to focus on anything but this. I have been there myself and you have to be able to spot warning signs.

[billieJ]

Dear Rachie ~ I was never abused by anyone, but I still have the paranoia. It doesn't get worse at night, however, as, like the witty response by Phoenix above, I, too, dread being seen by neighbors, and I take my rubbish out at 4-6 AM, during one of my later early AM awakenings. This is just a personal theory, but I thing paranoia and a number of other things are related to Borderline PD, as it is on the "borderline" of many other diagnoses! Anyway, diagnosis has little purpose, except for prescribing treatment, and all the various symptoms can be interrelated, so I wouldn't worry about THAT part of it. Please make sure to have a pdoc, if you can, and make sure that he/she knows of your paranoia. Caring For You, Rachie ~ billieJ