I have a friend who is paranoid about everything. Not to the extent that I think he needs professional help, but he needs some type of help. I think the way he is paranoid makes him extremely self conscious. (Everyone is talking about me. Or, oh my god, how are they going to react to what I just said? Should I not have said that? Or, he just won’t say things in the first place. Sometimes stop in the middle of the sentence if he doesn’t think it will get a good reaction) I think it stems from issues with his parents, I know his dad was not too loving growing up and I think he feels like what he has to say is not worth while, and I also think he is terrified of people not liking him, so he focuses in on the really little things way too much. He used to be my best friend, and I’ve watched over the years as his poor self esteem and minor/(major?) paranoia have ruined his social life almost completely. He is too afraid to ask people to hang out with him, as he is SURE that they will say no. He didn’t ask me once to hang out until five years into our friendship. And by that point we were great friends! But he is afraid that he is always “bothering” you, so he avoids it in the first place, and thus, he now has no social life, and is extremely unpleasant all the time. It is a real shame.