Poor me versus bad me paranoia and the instability of persecutory ideation

Melo, Sara Sigmaringa; Taylor, Jayne L.; Bentall, Richard P.

doi:10.1348/147608305x52856

Cited by 59 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…This deservedness dichotomy has been suggested as a helpful narrative distinction for clinical case conceptualisation and therapeutic work (Chadwick et al, 1996), but recent empirical findings are more consistent with a continuum of deservedness than with a categorical model . In addition, each individual can fluctuate between the two paranoia types over time (Melo, Taylor, & Bentall, 2006).…”

Section: Paranoia As a Defence Against Negative Self-evaluationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive factors maintaining persecutory delusions in psychosis: The contribution of depression.

Vorontsova¹,

Garety²,

Freeman³

2013

Journal of Abnormal Psychology

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Depression is common in people with schizophrenia, but how it might directly contribute to the persistence of psychotic symptoms has rarely been tested. The key aim of the present study was to test whether depression and associated cognitive processes predict the maintenance of persecutory delusions. Three groups of participants were tested at baseline: 60 patients with persecutory delusions in the context of a schizophrenia spectrum diagnosis, 30 patients with depression, and 30 nonclinical controls. They completed interviewer and self-report assessments of depression and paranoia, and measures of six cognitive factors (schematic beliefs, experiential avoidance, autobiographical memory, problem solving, rumination, worry style). The patients with persecutory delusions were then assessed again, six months later. It was found that 50% of the patients with persecutory delusions met diagnostic criteria for major depression. Cognitive processes found to be associated with depression across the groups were negative schematic beliefs about the self, experiential avoidance and rumination, but not autobiographical memory or problem solving. The severity of initial depression in patients with persecutory delusions predicted the persistence of paranoia over six months. A number of cognitive factors also predicted the persistence of persecutory delusions, including negative schematic beliefs about the self, worry, and problem-solving difficulties. In conclusion, depression is common in patients with current persecutory delusions, and it shows similar cognitive features to major depressive disorder. The results of this study indicate that depression and related processes may contribute to the maintenance of paranoia. Trials are warranted of depression-related therapeutic techniques for people with persecutory delusions.

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Section: Paranoia As a Defence Against Negative Self-evaluationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive factors maintaining persecutory delusions in psychosis: The contribution of depression.

Vorontsova¹,

Garety²,

Freeman³

2013

Journal of Abnormal Psychology

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“…Higher self-esteem, on the other hand, indicates relative safety from potential exclusion, thus allowing individuals to relax their guard. As this and previous research (Freeman et al, 2001, Melo et al, 2006, Chadwick et al, 2005, Udachina et al, 2012 show that bad-me beliefs are associated with highly negative self-concept, individuals holding bad-me beliefs would be expected to be hypersensitive to social context according to this theory.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

“…attributing negative events to other people). As previous research suggests that poor-me beliefs are associated with a tendency to attribute negative events to external causes (Melo et al, 2006), it is possible that such attributions were more prevalent among poor-me individuals, thus buffering their self-esteem and mood from social stress; bad-me individuals, on the other hand, were more likely to make internal attributions for unpleasant social interactions, leading to increased distress. We could further speculate, that the selective insensitivity to social (but not activity) stress associated with poor-me beliefs could be explained by better availability of external personal explanations in situations involving other people.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Poor-me individuals, on the other hand, believe that their persecution is unjustified and perceive others as bad. Consistent with this account, research has shown that bad-me paranoia is associated with anxiety, depression and low self-esteem (Freeman et al, 2001, Melo et al, 2006, Chadwick et al, 2005, whilst poor-me paranoia is associated with an externalising bias for negative events (Melo et al, 2006). A recent study examined the temporal relationships between self-esteem and both bad-me and poor-me paranoia in daily life using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM; Udachina et al, 2012).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Stress sensitivity in paranoia: poor-me paranoia protects against the unpleasant effects of social stress

et al. 2017

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BackgroundThe attributional theory of paranoia suggests that paranoid beliefs may protect individuals from low self-esteem and distress (Bentall et al. 2001). The current study tested this theory by investigating a hypothesis that paranoid beliefs in combination with low perceived deservedness of persecution (poor-me beliefs) confer protection against the distress caused by social but not activity related stress.MethodsParanoid symptoms, perceived deservedness of persecution, self-esteem, mood, and stress levels of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (N = 91) and healthy controls (N = 52) were assessed in the context of daily life using the experience sampling method.ResultsIndividuals holding poor-me beliefs (poor-me individuals) showed blunted sensitivity to social but not activity stress. In contrast, individuals holding paranoid beliefs in combination with high perceived deservedness of persecution (bad-me individuals) showed heightened sensitivity to social stress. No consistent differences in reactions to activity stress emerged. Although both poor-me and bad-me individuals reported low self-esteem, this disturbance was particularly characteristic of bad-me individuals.ConclusionsThe results suggest that poor-me paranoid beliefs may protect individuals against the distress associated with unpleasant social situations. The specificity of reactions to social stress is discussed in the context of wider literature. Future directions for research are suggested.

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“…Melo et al (2006) have provided evidence that people fluctuate between poor-me and bad-me paranoia, in response to Ôdaily experiencesÕ. This idea has been supported by recent research demonstrating that people from non-clinical populations who regularly experience paranoid thoughts have highly fluctuating self-esteem scores (Thewissen et al 2008).…”

Section: Paranoia and Self-esteemmentioning

confidence: 88%

Relationships between paranoid thinking, self-esteem and the menstrual cycle

Brock

Rowse

Slade

2015

Arch Womens Ment Health

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This study aimed to investigate whether paranoid experiences and levels of self-esteem fluctuate over the menstrual cycle and whether levels of self-esteem are lower when perceived persecution is felt to be deserved.Measures of anxiety, depression, persecution, deservedness and self-esteem were completed on-line by 278 women over their menstrual cycle. Responses were compared at the paramenstrual (three days before and after menses onset) and mid-cycle phase.At the paramenstrual phase persecution, negative self-esteem, anxiety and depression were higher and positive self-esteem was lower than at mid-cycle. A greater proportion of women experienced persecution as deserved at the paramenstrual phase. This was associated with higher depression and negative self-esteem scores.Increased levels of deservedness significantly strengthened the relationship between persecution and negative, but not positive, self-esteem.These findings suggest that the paramenstrual phase is a time of vulnerability to increased paranoid experiences, an increased likelihood that feelings of persecution will feel deserved and lowered self-esteem. The findings support the view that interpersonal sensitivities may be key to menstrual cycle symptoms and have an impact on relationships. Further, the study illustrated that ideas developed for psychosis could make a valuable contribution to understanding and managing this aspect of menstruation-related distress. KeywordsParanoia; Self-esteem; Menstruation; Premenstrual; Deservedness PARANOIA, SELF-ESTEEM AND THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE 3 Relationships between Paranoia, Self-Esteem and the Menstrual CycleThe menstrual cycle is characterised by hormonal fluctuations which accompany the processes of ovulation and menses in female human reproduction. The phases of the cycle have been linked to changes in both physical and psychological phenomena, the presentation and intensity of which varies considerably from woman to woman (Gonda et al. 2008). Typically, negative effects occur in the few days preceding and during menstruation. Increased interpersonal oversensitivity is commonly reported within the PMS literature (Pinkerton et al. 2010). Such sensitivities are likely to have major impacts upon relationships, and other commonly reported symptoms such as anxiety and depression. However, these sensitivities are rarely specifically investigated.! Paranoia and low self-esteem both reflect oversensitivity to interactions with others.Links between menstrual cycle phase and psychosis have long been postulated (see Brockington 2005 for a review). The literature also includes examples of exacerbation of bipolar disorder (Hendrick et al. 1996), exacerbation of schizophrenic symptoms (Harris 1997;Levitte 1997;Riecher-Rossler 2002;Hsiao et al. 2004;Bergemann et al. 2007) and the presentation of psychotic symptoms in major depression during the premenstrual and menstrual phases. Due to the physiological changes underpinning the menstrual cycle, research has focused upon physiological reasons for these phenomena, s...

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Poor me versus bad me paranoia and the instability of persecutory ideation

Abstract: PM and BM paranoia may represent separate phases of an unstable phenomenon. The findings are consistent with an attributional account of paranoid thinking.

Cited by 59 publications

References 28 publications

Cognitive factors maintaining persecutory delusions in psychosis: The contribution of depression.

Cognitive factors maintaining persecutory delusions in psychosis: The contribution of depression.

Stress sensitivity in paranoia: poor-me paranoia protects against the unpleasant effects of social stress

Relationships between paranoid thinking, self-esteem and the menstrual cycle

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