A type of schizophrenia associated with feelings of being persecuted or plotted against. Affected individuals may have grandiose delusions associated with protecting themselves from the perceived plot.
The key schizophrenic symptoms are delusions and/or auditory hallucinations. Paranoid schizophrenia usually does not involve the disorganization of speech and behavior seen in other subtypes of the disorder. Typical patients with paranoid schizophrenia are tense, suspicious, guarded, and reserved. See also: Schizophrenia and paranoid personality disorder .