Posted on: July 28, 2016/

Lonliness could be a cause of paranoia, and reducing loneliness could significantly decrease paranoid beliefs, a study published online in theJournal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry shows.

A team of German researchers manipulated perceived levels of loneliness in a sample of 60 healthy participants, and measured the changes in their state of paranoia. Participants’ overall proneness to psychosis was also considered.

MORE: Adjunctive Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Could Help Stave off Psychosis

“Loneliness is a common problem in patients with schizophrenia, and may be particularly linked with persecutory ideation,” the authors wrote. “Nevertheless, its role as a potential risk factor in the formation and maintenance of persecutory delusions is largely unexplored.”

Induction of loneliness lead to more pronounced paranoia overall, and a decrease in loneliness was associated with a significant reduction in present paranoid beliefs, the team found.

In addition, “proneness to psychosis significantly moderated the impact of loneliness on paranoia,” the authors wrote.

“Persons with a pronounced level of proneness to psychosis showed a stronger reduction of paranoid beliefs as a consequence of a decrease in loneliness, than less prone individuals,” the study says.

The team recommended research in high-risk individuals on the association between loneliness and paranoia, and the possible implications for cognitive behavioral therapy.

– Terri Airov

Reference

Lamster F, Nittel C, Rief W, Mehl S, Lincoln T. The impact of loneliness on paranoia: An experimental approach. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry . 2016 June 21;[Epub ahead of print].

Published by Dr.Adel Serag

Dr. Adel Serag is a senior consultant psychiatrist , working clinical psychiatry over 30 years.