Paranoia is a mental condition characterized by suspicious, distrustful attitudes toward other people, delusions of persecution or of grandeur, and irrational thought processes. Paranoia can range from general self-consciousness to a crippling mental illness. Paranoid people may also suffer from phobias, anxiety, or extreme shyness. Paranoia usually involves an exaggerated distrust of people or situations that are not validated by past experience. Mental conditions such as paranoia were not well-documented in centuries past, and the Bible does not use the term paranoia.