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As a paranoid person, in many cases I can't trust my gut instinct, and I must rely on what may seem to be naivete.

If we are paranoid, we have a choice of either trusting most people, or not. And if not, then we are living in a shell of our own illusions. They may not seem like illusions at the time, yet when we come out of the shell, we realize that the thinking had been erroneous.

We are probably better off trusting, and on occasion being fooled, as opposed to never trusting and living in psychological isolation. Paranoia is an isolating thing. It makes us feel more separate from other people than we actually are. When we connect with people in a trusting, open and caring manner, it is very health-giving. If we can't do that, it is bad for our physical and mental health. 

There seem to be many reasons to justify mistrust in the world. For example, the scam phone calls that most people have received, in which someone is posing as legitimate, and is trying to rip off our personal information for profit. Another example: government, which is becoming increasingly unworthy of our trust. 

But we have to trust some people some of the time, or we will not be able to function. The dilemma is, to follow the paranoid direction and become fearful, and act on that fear, or to trust that the world on some level will take care of us. 

In some instances, another level of instinct must be established, one that supersedes gut instinct yet one that does not rely solely in intellectual thought. When we are fully psychotic, the mind completely fools us. This includes many things that we seem to know for sure are real. Psychosis, when it takes over, has a widespread, "global" effect on the mind and body. 

Our minds, the bodily organ responsible for thought and guidance, that guide our speech and action, is responsible for keeping us out of trouble. It sometimes betrays us and gives us incorrect conclusions. 

(This can also happen to a supposedly normal person. Even a person who is not mentally ill is subject to being wrong at least some of the time. Some amount of illusion and some amount of paranoia are normal.) 

There is no easy fix for this. Sometimes we have to piece together what we think we know, what we believe we know, and what we don't know--and get some kind of picture from which to function. This entails getting the opinions of people we trust. And we have to trust some people, because if we don't, we are lost. 

Speaking of trust, when we are subject to psychosis, we cannot trust our own minds. And this is a devastating predicament. This may surprise you: for someone with psychosis, just the premise that we cannot trust our minds to be correct, is valuable. When we have the knowledge that we are subject to delusions, sanity can be restored from that point. Additionally, questioning the output of the mind can be a source of not acting or speaking from delusion. Reining in the zone of delusion and other errors can prevent life complications. 

Our society and the people in it, are verbally based, whether we are referring to the spoken or written word. Words come from thoughts. When the thoughts are erroneous, the words will be erroneous. This can create significant problems. In a best-case scenario, an individual who is severely psychotic gets the help they need. If we can trust someone, it allows for the inclusion of some correct thinking. 

As I've said numerous times, medication compliance is only the prerequisite for accurate thinking--it won't correct errors. It makes a person pay attention to his or her surroundings, and this allows a person to listen to what is being said and to see what is being done, without a barrier of misinterpretation caused by a brain malfunction. When we tune into the environment, assuming it is a friendly environment, we have an opportunity of getting well.