Paranoia : the 21st century fear

198 Pages·2008·0.773 MB·English

by  Freeman, Jason, Freeman, Daniel

PARANOIA
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PA R A N O I A
THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY FEAR
Daniel Freeman
and
Jason Freeman
1
3
GreatClarendonStreet,OxfordOX26DP
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
.............................................................
Much of this book was planned in the Rookery Stand at
Watford Football Club. We apologize to those who sit
nearus.
Researchisacollaborativeendeavourandsignificantroles
intheacademicworkdescribedhavebeenplayedbyPhilippa
Garety,PaulBebbington,GrahamDunn,ElizabethKuipers,
David Fowler, Mel Slater, Angus Antley, and Katherine
Pugh.ImportantinfluenceshavebeenAaronBeck,Richard
Bentall, and David Clark. The perfect context for the ideas
to develop has been provided by the close association of
theInstituteofPsychiatry,King’sCollegeLondonwiththe
SouthLondonandMaudsleyNHSFoundationTrust.
We are extremely grateful to the Wellcome Trust, an
independentcharitysupportingresearchtoimprovehuman
andanimalhealth,whofundDaniel’sresearchprogramme.
■
We would like to thank the Department of Computer Sci-
ence at University College London for supplying the two
virtualrealityimagesinChapter4.
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CONTENTS
.............................
1. Introduction 1
Or,WhyFatisaParanoidIssue
2. ANestofTraitors! 16
WhatisParanoia?
3. ‘TheyTellYouLies’ 41
IsParanoiaIncreasing?
4. Anxiety,Avatars,andInkSpots 66
ParanoiaandEmotions
5. ‘IDon’tWanttoSweepAlone’ 87
ParanoiaandAnomalousExperiences
6. DoingtheCamberwellWalk 110
ParanoiaandReasoning
7. ADownwardSpiral? 126
CombatingParanoia
8. Conclusion 152
Or,EnjoytheFruit
SOURCES 163
INDEX 181
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1
INTRODUCTION
Or, Why Fat is a Paranoid Issue
................................................................................
Over the past few years, a new and deadly epidemic has
stalkedtheland.
BritainandtheUS,justlikemuchoftherestoftheworld,
are getting fat. Around 60 per cent of adults in the UK
are heavier than they should be. It’s a similar story in the
US,wheretwo-thirdsofadultsareoverweightorextremely
overweight(obese).That’saprettyshockingstatistic,butwe
allknowthatkeepinginshapewhenyou’retryingtobalance
the demands of work and family life is tough. Who’s got
timetogettothegym?Whohastheenergytodomorethan
heat up a ready meal after ten hours in the office? Besides,
weallgetbiggeraswegetolder,don’twe?It’sametabolism
thing—isn’tit?
Butifyouthinkthestatisticsforadultsarealarming,wait
tillyoufindouthowourkidsarefaring.In2003,27percent
of children under 11 in England were either overweight
or obese. In the US, where different methods to measure