POLITICAL PARANOIA - A RULE OR A CHANCE?

Politics is a particular field of social activity where accusing an opponent of mental incapacitation occurs as a frequent element of the conducted narrative. Moreover, public opinion discrediting a profession of a politician is very eager to question the mental health of political actors. Vocabulary used in the public is a vital testimony of societies attitude towards people with mental disorders. However, we refer paranoia to personality traits of individuals while political paranoia refers to reaction to events, facts or to the way it is seen by individuals or groups. The authors do not have any ambition to carry out a psychological analysis of politicians. What is intriguing is the issue of using political paranoia (searching for enemies, tracking plots, fighting in defence of ideals, irrational justification of failures) in the group spectrum for elections. What is also intriguing is the answer to the question whether politicians are paranoid, or it is a well-planned election strategy which aims to identify an opponent to consolidate a group of voters around the leader.