In this book, Daniel Freeman, a Professor of Clinical Psychology at Oxford, shows how suspicion is rife, how conspiracy theories circulate like never before and how all too often emotion trumps evidence. This book is a shocking expose of the extreme levels of mistrust in our society. This highly innovative book uses case studies and new science to examine paranoia: how it forms, how it can be linked to trauma, to sleep, to conspiracy beliefs and relationships with authority and other people – and its wider, subtle effects on us as a society. This is also a practical book. Leaning on his expertise, Freeman shows us how we can measure our own levels of mistrust. He explains how we can remedy things if that level is higher than we’d like, because although mistrust can seem engrained, things can change for the better. Ultimately, it can be overcome.