The Paranoid Self

The self-image of the paranoid personality structure consists of two poles. The first pole is a weak, humiliated, and inadequate self-image. The other pole is a grandiose, invincible, and omnipotent self-image. The world of paranoid individuals consists of fluctuations between these two self-images. Although they may appear invincible, strong, and arrogant from the outside, their affect wavers between the two self-images. The paranoid oscillates between these two poles.

The first pole, the weak, helpless, and humiliated self-image, stems from the paranoid's relationship with their object. The paranoid transfers their relationship pattern with their object to their entire relationship with other people. A paranoid who has an abusive and demanding object develops a humiliated and inadequate self-image. In the position of the weak and humiliated self-image, which the paranoid develops as a result of their overall relationship with their object, a high degree of fear manifests itself in the paranoid. They fear being used and abused by other people. They try to protect themselves from being deceived, used, pressured, and exploited. Struggling with feelings of insecurity, the paranoid expects an attack and danger at any moment. Therefore, they never lower their guard against people. Building walls between themselves and other people, the paranoid spends most of their time searching for potential dangers against themselves.

The other pole, the grandiose, arrogant, and powerful self-image, manifests itself with intense feelings of guilt. The paranoid feels guilty about the power they possess. The paranoid, who has an omnipotent self-image, believes that everything is under their control. Therefore, they think that they are the source of bad events that occur. Thinking that their actions caused this negative result and feeling guilty about it, the paranoid believes that they should be punished. This thought, along with the feeling of guilt, causes them to experience intense anxiety about being punished.

Moreover, the thought that everything happening around the individual is related to them also stems from the grandiose self-image. Placing themselves at the center of the world, the paranoid believes that everything revolves around them. They attribute the happiness, sadness, fears, and anxieties of the people around them to themselves. Everything that happens has a connection to them, near or far. For example, they attribute their coworker's absence from work to themselves, they wonder if someone passing by them and speaking loudly is trying to give them a message, or they take it personally when a group of friends at work laugh among themselves.