I would consider myself somewhat paranoid, but not to clinically significant proportions. I can typically parse out whether my suspicions are reasonable or not.
interesting question. I have also wondered about this.
when I'm in a stress situation I become over-emotional and paranoid. The reason for it is that when I'm in this state I'm not in touch with reality. I don't see things the way they are but the way I think they are. I start to rely on my intuition to hard and I don't confirm it with reality. Just the fact that my boyfriend doesn't call me for 2 days could be translated in my head to "he doesn't love me anymore". When this happens the best thing for me to do is to check with him why he hasn't called me. The reason could be very understandable. But "intuitive" as I think I am I don't see the need to check with him. I trust my instincts and keep on believing that something is wrong and I start to see more and more signs that my believes are true. Then I call my boyfriend completely hystericle "why doesn't you care for me" and he is completely oblivious to what the hell has happened with me
So I have to admit that though I am very sensitive to hidden meaning and underlying emotions with others, I should not jump to conclusions just based on these hunches. In many cases it is better that I ask whether my hunches are correct or not. Staying in touch with reality is really important to have a clear view on what is going on around me
we should remember that not everybody thinks and acts the way we do. It is not because we know exactly how we can hurt an other person, that others have the same knowledge. Some people are completely oblivious as to how they come across to others and the social or emotional concequences of there actions. So when we try to see hidden meaning in the behavior of others it is better to find out first how this person thinks and acts and take that into account before you make any conclusions.