Erotomania

Erotomania is a type of delusion in which the affected person believes that another person, usually a stranger, high-status or famous person, is in love with him or her. The illness often occurs during psychosis, especially in patients with schizophrenia, delusional disorder or bipolar mania.^[1] During an erotomanic episode, the patient believes that a secret admirer is declaring his or her affection to the patient, often by special glances, signals, telepathy, or messages through the media. Usually the patient then returns the perceived affection by means of letters, phone calls, gifts, and visits to the unwitting recipient. Even though these advances are unexpected and often unwanted, any denial of affection by the object of this delusional love is dismissed by the patient as a ploy to conceal the forbidden love from the rest of the world.^[2]

The term erotomania is often confused with obsessive love, obsession with unrequited love, or hypersexuality. Obsessive love is not erotomania by definition. Erotomania is also called de Clérambault's syndrome, after the French psychiatrist Gaëtan Gatian de Clérambault (1872–1934), who published a comprehensive review paper on the subject (Les Psychoses Passionelles) in 1921.

Presentation

The core symptom of the disorder is that the sufferer holds an unshakable belief that another person is secretly in love with him or her. In some cases, the sufferer may believe several people at once are "secret admirers." The sufferer may also experience other types of delusions concurrently with erotomania, such as delusions of reference, wherein the perceived admirer secretly communicates his or her 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). Erotomanic delusions are typically found as the primary symptom of a delusional disorder or in the context of schizophrenia and may be treated with atypical anti-psychotics.

Prominent examples

• The assassination attempt of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley, Jr. was reported to have been driven by an erotomanic fixation on Jodie Foster.^[3]

• Late night TV entertainer David Letterman and former astronaut Story Musgrave were both stalked by Margaret Mary Ray.^[4][5]

History

Early references to the condition can be found in the work of Hippocrates, Erasistratus, Plutarch and Galen ^{[citation needed]}. 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, "erotic paranoia" and "erotic self-referent delusions" until the common usage of the terms erotomania and de Clérambault's syndrome.

G.E. Berrios and N. Kennedy outlined in 'Erotomania: a conceptual history' (2002)^[6] 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"

In one case, erotomania was reported in a patient who had undergone surgery for a ruptured cerebral aneurysm.^[2]

See also

Notes

References

• Berrios GE, Kennedy N (December 2002). "Erotomania: a conceptual history". History of Psychiatry 13 (52 Pt 4): 381–400. doi:10.1177/0957154X0201305202. PMID 12638595. 
• Fitzgerald P., Seeman M.V. (2002). "Erotomania in women". In Sheridan, Lorraine; Boon, Julian. Stalking and psychosexual obsession: Psychological perspectives for prevention, policing, and treatment. New York: Wiley. ISBN 0-471-49459-3. 
• Giannini AJ, Slaby AE, Robb TO (February 1991). "De Clérambault's syndrome in sexually experienced women". The Journal of clinical psychiatry 52 (2): 84–6. PMID 1993641. 
• Kennedy N, McDonough M, Kelly B, Berrios GE (2002). "Erotomania revisited: clinical course and treatment". Compr Psychiatry 43 (1): 1–6. doi:10.1053/comp.2002.29856. PMID 11788912. 
• Munro, Alistair (1999). Delusional disorder: Paranoia and related illnesses. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-58180-X.