Religious paranoia


Religious paranoia is an irrational fear of being purposefully attacked by an outside agent in or through some religious context. Some examples:
  1. The fear of one's soul being stolen
  2. The fear of being tempted by demons
  3. The fear of being plotted against by cultists
  4. The fear of God or Satan
It is a condition which has been compared to extremism and intolerance. It has been cited as a possible contributor to political violence. It is often related to splitting, psychological projection, a desire to maintain a sense of in situations of real or perceived persecution, and rigid and unchallengeable attitudes.
In an alternate form of religious paranoia of a psychiatric nature, the patient can suffer from a permanent delusion of a primarily religious nature. He could, for example, believe that he is the messenger of God who has been sent to the world to propagate some religion.