This is http://www.essayz.com/a9611081.htm Previous-Essay <== This-Essay ==> Following-Essay Click HERE on this line to find essays via Your-Key-Words. {Most frequent wordstarts of each essay will be put here.} ========================================================== %FEARFUL PEOPLE INTRUDE DYSFUNCTIONALLY PARANOID 961108 Fearful people often intrude dysfunctionally into the lives of other people. Often those people who are dysfunctionally affected by such fears do not have any clear basis for distinguishing between functional fears, and dysfunctional fears; between prudent responses to well grounded fears, and imprudent responses to un- grounded fears. Paranoids are people whose lives are dominated by fears of possibilities which flow through their dreams, visions, anxieties, apprehensions, etc. Their fears have only tenuous connections to any realities of which others are aware; and often have no connection to any objective reality upon which others can agree. The boundary between paranoid lives and normal lives is not a sharp boundary. Many healthy people occasionally have paranoid experiences; it is a matter of degree and/or frequency. When paranoiac fears dominate our lives we experience personal and communal disintegrations. How are we to recognize and deal wisely with paranoiac fears? It is often helpful to ask and seek answers to the following questions: 1. Are there many people who are clearly people of integrity and good health who regard the particular fears as legitimate? Are such people intelligent, well informed, balanced, and able to articulate concerns about the particular fears in a clear way? 2. Have there been instances in the past which indicate that the present fears are well grounded; e.g., events that show that what some people fear may happen--- has in fact happened in the past under circumstances like the present ones? 3. Are there well documented patterns of cause and effect which clearly indicate that present circumstances point towards the "fulfillment" of what people fear? 4. Are the anxious/fearful people speaking openly and honestly on their own behalf---showing that it is reasonable to expect that they themselves will suffer harm if corrective actions are not taken? 5. Will people's rights be violated if suggested corrective actions are (are not) taken in keeping with the desires of the fearful people? 6. Are there laws in force which call for corrective actions to be taken under the circumstances which have engendered fear in the current instance? 7. Do the people who are calling for corrective actions to be taken have any authority to take action; or do they have standing under the law to demand that action be taken? 8. Is there evidence that the fears are grounded in ignorance, lack of familiarity, lack of emotional maturity, lack of intelligence, or the presence of prejudice? 9. Are people fearful because they have misunderstood signals, signs, statements, contexts, or unfamiliar languages? 10. Are proposed corrective actions based upon some misunderstandings of law in general or of some particular laws? 11. Are proposed corrective actions proposed with indifference to certain people's rights? 12. Are the fearful people preoccupied with issues of control in the manner of addicts and their codependent supporters? 13. Are there collusions operative among the fearful people? 14. Are the fearful people truly being honest with themselves and each other? 15. Are the fearful people motivated by concerns about their own self-righteousness? (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy) ==========================================================