Suspicious minds: the psychology of persecutory delusions.

Journal article

At least 10-15% of the general population regularly experience paranoid thoughts and persecutory delusions are a frequent symptom of psychosis. Persecutory ideation is a key topic for study. In this article the empirical literature on psychological processes associated with persecutory thinking in clinical and non-clinical populations is comprehensively reviewed. There is a large direct affective contribution to the experience. In particular, anxiety affects the content, distress and persiste...

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Authors: Freeman, D

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Clinical psychology review
• Volume: 27
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 425-457
• Publication date: 2007-05-01
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2006.10.004
• EISSN: 1873-7811
• ISSN: 0272-7358
• Language: English
• Keywords: Depression; Culture; Humans; Delusions; Reference Values; Thinking; Internal-External Control; Cognition Disorders; Paranoid Disorders; Diagnosis, Differential; Anxiety; Schizophrenia, Paranoid; Risk Factors; Psychotic Disorders