Title: Why Do I Feel Like I’m Being Watched? This Is The Scientific Reason For Paranoia
Headings: If You Feel Like You’re Always Being Watched, There’s A Scientific Reason Why
If You Feel Like You’re Always Being Watched, There’s A Scientific Reason Why
Normal Paranoia Likely Developed To Help Us Survive

Content: Why Do I Feel Like I’m Being Watched? This Is The Scientific Reason For Paranoia
Life
If You Feel Like You’re Always Being Watched, There’s A Scientific Reason Why
Claudia Soraya/Unsplash
By JR Thorpe
Oct. 18, 2017
In the age of pervasive social media, ubiquitous camera use, and actual real-time surveillance, it can feel like you're not just being paranoid, and that you really are being watched. But paranoia in its truest sense isn't necessarily about the creepy feeling of hairs going up on the back of your neck. It's a state of heightened suspicion of constant threat, and it exists on a continuum from reality-based (if a dude seems to be following you home from the bus stop) to delusional (the government are reading your thoughts). Feeling a little paranoia, scientists stress, is normal — and understanding it gives us a lens into how humans have learned to interact and anticipate threats from others. More like this
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The word paranoia itself, as you might have guessed, comes from the ancient Greek. But when it shows up in ancient Greek tragedies by the likes of Euripides, it's used as a kind of synonym for "crazy." The modern sense of heightened or excessive awareness of the harmful intentions of others didn't emerge until the 19th century, as German and French doctors refined the concept from a kind of delusion to a specific diagnosis. Paranoia also took on a new dimension in the 20th century as people began to study schizophrenia, which occasionally results in paranoia and hallucinations. But having a sense of paranoia doesn't necessarily mean you should see a mental health care professional, or that you're being haunted: