Persecutory delusions stem from the threat of loss of personal control over the self and others and from the attempts to prevent this loss of control. Using cybernetic concepts, the authors trace and identify four stages in the formation and maintenance of persecutory delusions. The maintenance of such delusions is an attempt on the part of the individual to regain control by transforming previous anger about future possibilities into resentment about what has supposedly happened, giving the patient a present-time new focus—the goal of resisting this persecutory influence. The authors also give a short discussion of Freudian and Sullivanian ideas of persecutory delusions, examining similarities to and differences from their cybernetic model, along with implications for treatment and research.