One of the reasons for my reclusion is a degree of paranoia.

While I'm not constantly paranoid, it can take the smallest things to set it off.

A few known triggers:
Just about any error message/unexpected log on a computer, especially network related.
People walking in the same direction as me on a non-crowded street(typically less than 3 people over a few meters).
People looking at me on the bus/train/etc.
People I know doing anything out of character.
Things like taps being left on, or the TV turning itself on in the middle of the night.
Power outages.
The phone ringing (especially if there's no-one on the other end of the line, or it stops ringing before i answer it).

In short, pretty much anything unexpected or out of the norm.

So, the question is: Are you paranoid -- if so, to what degree, and does it contribute to your reclusion?

I'm so paranoid that I refuse to further detail
my paranoia for fear that those that seek to do
me harm will use this to forward their agenda.

I'm only paranoid with people's actions or reactions, and their speech, I often think it over and over to see whether I've missed something that I've misinterpreted, which I find happens all the time when I rethink the dialogues.
I'm also too well aware of how I'm treated, good or bad, because I can't really ask, I just keep thinking about it and making assumptions, and then I need to trace back to more conversations to see whether it is something I've done wrong, etc, I often have to force myself to not do that, but they bug me from time to time and I have to convince myself they're trivial things.

i'm mildly paranoid, but my husband makes it worse. for him, everything is "WHEN it will happen" as opposed to "IF it will happen." he bought a gun because he's convinced burglars will break into our house at any moment and kill us. this is especially frightening when he works nights, and i'm here alone until dawn, with a dog that barks at every noise outside the house.

While my social anxiety disorder makes me highly conscious of others and makes me interpret a lot of things as having something to do with to me, I don't think I'm paranoid. I'm just really, really insecure. People laughing on the street always seems like they're laughing at me, although most the time that's a pretty absurd notion - people don't pay that much attention to others. Not really. It is a great contributor to my reclusiveness, though :)

I'm not..

I'm paranoid about some weird things. For example, when I'm alone in my room, I can get the feeling that someone's watching me behind my back. When I sense somebody's presence, I tend to look back quickly and then turn around. This is why I lock my bedroom door. I don't like being spectated by someone else unexpectedly only to find one of my family members surprising me and say "What're you doing?" when I have my headphones on.

I guess I also have this slight "fear" of being misjudged when I'm around other people and get the thought/feeling that they're giving me a weird look when I pass them. I'm fine with it as long as I'm not confronted with personal comments.

Yeah, sometimes I’m paranoid. It's not that often though. The above things make me paranoid too. Also if I'm contacted by someone I haven't spoken to in ages, or if someone from the other building stands by their window for a very long time

Actually I have moments of pronoia, that's not a very common thing I guess. If I talk to someone I like, I will think that they were send by someone just to make me happy for a brief moment, and that they’re only talking to me because it’s their job to cheer me up. Or that someone I like is especially chosen by something great... It’s a bit confusing. It’s not that often I feel pronoia.
“having the sense that there is a conspiracy that exists to help the person.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronoia_%28psychology%29

I wouldn't say the paranoia makes me more reclusive though. The pronoia doesn't make me less reclusive either.

Paranoid of other people, everyone just makes me feel really uncomfortable so the only way I deal with it is going out and getting drunk in order to find some self confidence in the bottom of a bottle.

Yes, I'm paranoid. Not a problem for me personally though.

Not paranoid, just to trust people, I did get paranoid feelings after smoking up a few times, wasn't an enjoyable feeling

After long periods of exposure to douchebaggery I think I have become a little paranoid. Ok, so I check my back sometimes at 4 A.M. to make sure no ones there. Don't we all do that? ._.

I get paranoid as fuck while having anxiety attacks.

I'm actually quite paranoid. I usually sleep with a weapon within reach. I used to fall asleep with my sword in my hands when I would forget to put it away and just pass out.

Close to where I'm sleeping is a knife with a 3 inch blade (Just enough to be carried without a concealed weapons permit) I have my swords(which I've sharpened a few times...), I sleep with a gutting/skinning knife stuffed between my mattress and my bed post so it's easy to obtain.

I've done this since I was little. I have reason for it though, one time I had a man come into our house uninvited and wouldn't leave (My aunt's ex... she was living with us at the time) until I grabbed a bat and damn near cracked him with it. On his way out he said, "You have to sleep sometime." since then, I've always had something capable of taking a person down with me. I've also learned plenty of police style take-downs and a few hand to hand combat moves to eliminate a threat.

Other than that, I'm also paranoid that I'm being watched when I'm walking alone so I talk out loud to myself to scare off anyone who might be watching.

I know they are both related to that guy but, I don't think I'll ever be able to shake the paranoia that someone is trying to hurt me. I will forever be looking over my shoulder at "that person" wondering, "Are they going to try anything?"

I think it's clear how this affects my reclusive behavior.

Quite paranoid actually. Specially when i'm alone or when I'm around people that aren't my friends.

I always think that people are thinking bad things about me and how stupid i am n shit. Drives me crazy. I know the world doesn't revolve around me and I know there's a high possibility they aren't talking about me but there's still that small percentage that is there, that they could be.

Also, when I'm alone and I hear the slightest of noises(specially when its dark) i freak. I make sure my dog is next to me and I keep all the lights on with the tv while I'm playing video games. Makes me feel safer like the bad guys cant step into the light (lol).

My Set offs:
Any kind of footsteps behind/around me.
Music that is not mine.
People looking/glancing my way.
Obvious secret-keeping, especially in forums with secrets staff keeps from members.
Eating in a restaurant.
OPEN WINDOWS.

I get really paranoid when I'm out in public. I get this feeling like, somehow I'll be singled out in a "he doesn't belong here" sort of way. I get to feeling like I don't fit at all, and I just want to get back home. This is probably the biggest reason for my reclusion.
Other than that, I also worry about unlocked doors, and people seeing me through windows.

I have an issue with uncovered windows. The only time I keep the drapes open is when the sun is shining
and the lights are out. I never have the lights on indoors without the shades drawn, and I keep them closed
on cloudy days. I used to keep them closed 24/7. I would actually take loose magazines and prop them up
against the parts of the window not covered with drapery, so I've improved.

I'm not paranoid at all. :<

But yes, I'm paranoid when it comes to darkness and ghosts...

Yes. My mother always watches Dateline and all of those true-crime shows, and they freak me the fuck out. I've gotten to the point where I have to have white noise to sleep because the sounds of the house settling scare me so much. I've been really tempted to sleep with a knife, the only reason I haven't is because my mother would notice it's missing and ask wtf is wrong with me. Also, I tend to think people are watching me through the windows. I used to be scared about this when I was a little kid but then it kind of went away until high school. These stupid cunts who moved in up the street, they would walk up and down the road at night, and once they decided to trash our deck. I'm still afraid to go in the dining room, where the sliding glass door is that leads to the deck, at night.

And, I have it in general about all social interaction. I think it's probably my biggest reason from abstaining from it.

Yes, in many ways. Also in the weird kind of way that when my mother starts to tell "I saw a group of police men at the train station ... " my first reaction is shit man they're looking for me, physical panic-reaction included. Then after a nanosecond I realize that this first thought is completely bullshit and I find myself an idiot for reacting like that.

I voted with a yes because your description matches with some thoughts I've been having.
But I never thought about this as something out of the normal. I feel paranoid in public transport. Since people like to look at others all the time, specially at me when I go inside. To avoid a freak out I take a book and read. I can't concentrate enough to grasp the meaning, it's more about concentrating just on reading the words.
Other than that, I see endless possibilities in everything so I keep thinking about things which might be considered absurd. If this is paranoia too, I was never aware about it.

To an extent, yes. I often get plagued with thoughts that everyone, even the people am I closest to are doing and saying things behind my back. I am always suspicious of other people and their motives, which sort of makes it difficult to get close to anyone. I would say my problem is more with trust than with paranoia but I voted 'yes' anyway.

If I hear a squeeky unfamiliar sound around or in my house I think it's someone coming to kill me.

I usually turn the lights off at night and avoid windows out of fear of snipers (I'm serious btw).

When I go to the bathroom at night after having woken up from a deep sleep I'm scared of my own reflection because I look so evil.

I believe that any weird acting forum member who ever took some interest in me someway is a troll.

I'd say the main reason I'm a shut-in is because of not trusting anyone. I always think people are planning against me or saying things behind my back. When I moved

into my new apartment people would come by and knock on the door... probably just to introduce themselves to the new guy (looking back on the situation)...

but at the time I was so scared I taped over the looking class in center of the door. Windows weren't an issue because I went out of my way to get a Studio apartment

with no windows next to the walkway. When I first started college, I was in a dorm that had 4 separate rooms where we shared a kitchen and living area. I never once ate

anything from the kitchen because I was so convinced one of the other roommates might try to do something to my food. I guess I kind of top the paranoia charts...

Sure would like to get over it one day. It's like, when you view the times you feel really paranoid from a distance they seem like very silly, irrational thoughts, and yet...

in those moments it's almost impossible to logically evaluate your situations.

@ Suedehead I definitely know how you feel when you say your plagued with thoughts of distrust... it can make life a lot harder than it needs to be