[ExI] How to avoid becoming a victim of street crime

[Post Futurist]

Right, someone who is being pursued or monitored wont be helped by being paranoid. But if no one is out to 'get' you, and you, say, sometimes walk in a bad neighborhood at night, then being paranoid--i.e. excessively suspicious-- would keep you extra alert for cues indicating danger. If the likelihood is low you would be harmed but you are very suspicious anyway, what might be termed paranoid could protect you from marauders, despite as you correctly write, *not* helping you. Paranoia has a negative effect, naturally, on the nervous system.
Funny, the most famous paranoid, Hitler, was not. Living in a flop house in Vienna, being exposed to enemy fire as a despatcher, in WWI, being threatened by deposition or assassination while dictator, were reasons for him to be justifiably suspicious. The most remarkable fact concerning Hitler was that he was able to keep his head from nineteen forty three to forty five, experiencing such intense pressure. He had no choice, but still most would have folded with such pressure. Hitler had a personality disorder, but was not mentally ill.



      
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