Erotomania

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Erotomania is a rare disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that another person, usually of a higher social status, is in love with them.

Erotomania is also called de Clerambault's syndrome, after the French psychiatrist Gaëtan Gatian de Clerambault (1872—1934), who published a comprehensive review paper on the subject (Les Psychoses Passionelles) in 1921.

The term erotomania is also sometimes used in a less specific clinical sense meaning excessive pursuit of or preoccupation with love or sex.

Contents

[edit] History

Early references to the condition can be found in the work of Hippocrates, Erasistratus, Plutarch and Galen. In the psychiatric literature it was first referred to in 1623 in a treatise by Jacques Ferrand (Maladie d'amour ou Mélancolie érotique) and has been variously called "old maid's psychosis", "erotic paranoia" and "erotic self-referent delusions" until the common usage of the terms erotomania and de Clérambault's syndrome.

Berrios and Kennedy have outlined several periods of history through which the concept of erotomania has changed considerably:

  • Classical times – early eighteenth century: General disease caused by unrequited love
  • Early eighteenth – beginning nineteenth century: Practice of excess physical love (akin to nymphomania or satyriasis)
  • Early nineteenth century – beginning twentieth century: Unrequited love as a form of mental disease
  • Early twentieth century – present: Delusional belief of "being loved by someone else"

[edit] Contemporary syndrome

The core of the syndrome is that the affected person has a delusional belief that another person, usually of higher social status, is secretly in love with them. The sufferer may also believe that the subject of their delusion secretly communicates their love by subtle methods such as body posture, arrangement of household objects and other seemingly innocuous acts (or, if the person is a public figure, through clues in the media). The object of the delusion usually has little or no contact with the delusional person, who often believes that the object initiated the fictional relationship. Erotomanic delusions are typically found as the primary symptom of delusional disorder, or in the context of schizophrenia.

Occasionally the subject of the delusion may not actually exist, although more commonly, the subjects are media figures such as popular singers, actors and politicians. Erotomania has been cited as one cause for stalking or harassment campaigns.

The assassination attempt of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley, Jr. was reported to have been driven by an erotomanic delusion that the death of the president would cause actress Jodie Foster to publicly declare her love for Hinckley.

Late night comedian David Letterman and retired astronaut Story Musgrave were the targets of delusional Margaret Mary Ray, and other celebrities such as Madonna, Steven Spielberg, Barbara Mandrell, and Linda Ronstadt have also reportedly been targets of stalkers suffering from erotomania.

[edit] Erotomania in fiction

  • Erotomania is the name of a short story by Joshua Ostrander in which the main character stalks a young woman he is obsessed with.
  • The Booker Prize winning author Ian McEwan based the novel Enduring Love around the theme of a science writer who is harassed by an erotomanically deluded person, after the two characters are indirectly involved with a hot air balloon crash.
  • In the story "Diary of a Madman" by Nikolai Gogol, the main character suffers from erotomania.
  • In the episode The Legend of old Gregg Of British comedy show The Mighty Boosh the character Old Gregg appears to be delusional about the nature of his relationship with Howard, asking on numerous occasions "do you love me?" and later actually tells Howard that that he is in love with him.
  • In Obsessed, Jenna Elfman plays a medical writer who delusionally believes herself to have had an affair with a married doctor, and the movie occurs during her trial for stalking. [1]
  • Erotomania was the cause of Angélique's (portrayed by Audrey Tautou) institutionalisation in the 2002 French film He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not (À la folie... pas du tout).
  • The episode "Broken Mirror" of the television show Criminal Minds deals with erotomania. It is also a tangental point in the Wire in the Blood episode "Nothing but the Night."
  • "Erotomania" is the title of an instrumental track on progressive metal band Dream Theater's third album, Awake, released in 1994, and it forms the first part of their suite "A Mind Beside Itself".
  • The main protagonist of the 2007 film Anna M. by Michel Spinosa is a woman who convinces herself that her orthopedic surgeon is fervently in love with her.[2]
  • Erotomania is researched and explained in the murder mystery thriller Final Jeopardy, by Linda Fairstein.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Berrios, G.E. & Kennedy, N. (2003) Erotomania: A conceptual history. History of Psychiatry, 13, 381-400.
  • Fitzgerald, P. & Seeman, M.V. (2002) Erotomania in women. In J. Boon and L. Sheridan (eds) Stalking and sexual obsession: Psychological perspectives for prevention, policing and treatment. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. ISBN 0-471-49459-3
  • Kennedy, N., McDonough, M., & Berrios, G.E. (2002) Erotomania revisited: Clinical course and treatment. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 43 (1), 1-6
  • Munro, A. (1999) Delusional disorder: Paranoia and related illnesses. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-58180-X
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