THE INSULAR PARANOID

personalities.
paranoid and avoidant
The insular paranoid combines aspects of the to criticism, espe-
apprehensive, and hypersensitive
Such individuals are often moody, vulnerable, many
achievements are concerned. Extremely
and
C1ally where their worth
in
For example, they may engage
insular paranoids seek solace
in self-focused ways. in drugs and a l
self-esteem or indulge
their
abstruse intellectual
activities to enhance insular para-
humiliation,
fears. Especially fearful of shame and than
cohol to calm their dangers. More
themselves against both real and imagined
noids seek to defend world both threatening and destructive.
themselves from a
the
most, they seek to protect periods of time, a m e a n s of keeping
isolate themselves for long
As such, they may lives.
of others out of their
inevitable judgments controlled. They not
Insular paranoids also have an unusually strong fear of being
on their own con-
external influence but also desire to rely solely
only seek to prevent consensual reality, they
beliefs. Unwilling to check their thoughts against
clusions and the
more out of touch with
the surrounding world, eventually losing
more and
grow an important
fantasy from reality. Fears of shame and humiliation,
ability to distinguish inflate to full-blown con-
component of both the paranoid and avoidant patterns, easily
become so painful and terrifying that they
spiracies. Eventually, their thoughts may
the continuity and focus of their perceptions, distracting
begin intentionally to interrupt
their inner world be-
themselves from their own thoughts. By deserting themselves,
comes a chaotic mélange
of distorted, incidental, and unconnected notions, the thresh-
old of a decompensated paranoid state.