Erotomania: definition, symptoms, characteristics, and treatment.

This disorder is based on the belief that someone is very much in love with oneself.

Romantic love, or the feeling of being in love with another person, is one of the most turbulent and mood-churning experiences a person can have. Love can alter and transform the way a person thinks, speaks and behaves, and can be an immense source of well-being when it is reciprocated.

However, what happens when a person becomes obsessed with the idea that the other person is also in love with him/her when, however, the reality is different? This alteration of the thought is known as erotomaniaIn this case, the person is fully convinced that his love is reciprocated, although there is no proof of it.

What is erotomania?

Erotomania is a rare form of paranoid delirium currently paranoid delirium currently classified as Erotomanic Delusional Disorder of the Erotomanic type.. The content of this delusion is characterized by a profound conviction that another person, usually of higher social class or rank, possesses romantic feelings or is in love with the delusional person.

These beliefs or perceptions that the other person possesses a series of romantic emotions towards the patient are completely unfounded, since, in most cases, the actual contact between these two people is practically nil.

In addition, this delirium leads to stalking behavior towards the other personIt also leads to feelings of hope or longing for the other person and, when the other person does not respond, it ends up leading to a deep resentment towards him/her.

The patient may come to believe that there is a kind of invisible and mystical communication between the two of them, blaming the other for sending him/her signals of love or for provoking these beliefs.

This disorder, traditionally known as Clerambault's Syndrome, was described extensively by this French psychiatrist in 1921 in his treatise Les Psychoses Passionelles.

Possible causes

Usually, the most common cause of erotomania is related to affective, organic-brain or schizophrenic disorders.. These disorders foster in the person an erroneous perception of reality, as well as a misinterpretation of his/her experiences, which leads him/her to create a passionate delirium with any person for whom he/she feels a fixation.

Erotomanic behaviors are related to other psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder or paraphrenia.

There are also a number of risk factors that may favor the origin of this rare disorder. The most important are social isolation and extreme loneliness, sexual inhibitions and the use of toxic substances such as drugs and alcohol. such as drugs and alcohol.

The typical epidemiology of this condition is centered mainly in single women, with extreme loneliness and over 30 years of age, however there are also records of erotomania in men with the same characteristics.

Clinical characteristics of erotomania

Despite the fact that, due to its singularity, there is not much current scientific literature on erotomania, a series of common characteristics can be observed in patients with erotomania. common peculiarities in patients who suffer from erotomania. These characteristics are:

1. A delirium common to all patients

Unlike most delusional disorders, in erotomania, the basic delusion of all patients is that another person is in love with them. the basic delusion of all patients is that another person is in love with them..

2. It can be recurrent

During the development of the disorder, the patient may be convinced that the same person is in love with him/her for a long period of time.The longest known case on record has been 37 years; or, the patient may alternate between different persons, who are substituted for each other in similar delusions.

3. Illusory communication with the other person

During his delusions the patient is convinced that the other person, the center of his delirium, communicates with him through hidden messages, strange signs and clues or gestures that the patient interprets in any way.

4. Blaming the other person

In a large number of cases, the patient has the conviction and perseveres in the idea that the other person was the one who initiated the contact or the one who started the "love affair".

5. Higher social status of the other person

As a general rule, the target of the patient's delusions is usually a person of a higher social or economic status. a person of a higher social or economic statuseven affecting celebrities, politicians, etc.

6. Construction of bizarre theories

As in many other delusional disorders, the patient builds up a series of bizarre theories that allow him/her to maintain his/her delirium, becoming more and more complicated as the person who is the object of the delirium denies or rejects outright the ideas or approaches of the other person.

7. There does not have to be a real contact

The person at the center of the patient's delirium does not have to be someone the patient knows first hand. The person may be completely unaware of the patient's intentions or thoughts, or may be tormented by the patient's constant attempts to contact him or her.

A person affected by erotomania may even try to obsessively obsessively try to contact the other person by means of telephone calls, mail or e-mail or even by means of stalking.

Treatment and prognosis

Although most people who suffer from this disorder rarely reach mental health services, erotomania requires psychotherapeutic intervention in line with treatments for delusional disorders..

To date, these treatments involve a psychological as well as a pharmacological approach, in which psychologists and physiciansIn this approach, psychologists and physicians must coordinate and work together to improve the patient's mental health.

Although the intervention may undergo some change depending on the severity or disposition of the delirium, psychological therapy aims to settle the patient in reality, also aided by pharmacological therapy by means of the administration of antipsychotic medication, antidepressants or or eutimizing drugs.

It is necessary to point out that although the intervention in patients with erotomania manages to diminish the amorous delirium, at least in 50% of the cases, this does not usually disappear completely, being constituted as a chronic affection.

The John Hinckley Jr. case

One of the most renowned cases of erotomania, which ended up acquiring worldwide fame, was that of John Hinckley Jr. in 1981. During his delirium of love, Hinckley ended up committing an assassination attempt on the American president. an assassination attempt on U.S. President Ronald Reagan..

After the failed assassination attempt, he stated that his motivation was to dazzle his motivation was to dazzle the well-known actress Jodie Foster, for whom he felt an obsession derived from his erotomanic delirium.for whom he felt an obsession derived from his erotomanic delirium. The central idea of Hinckley's delirium was that the assassination of President Reagan would cause the actress to publicly declare her love for him.

Prior to the assassination attempt on the president, Hinckley had already engaged in obsessive and persecutory behavior towards the actress through constant phone calls, letters and sudden appearances wherever the actress was.

Finally, Hinckley was acquitted on the grounds of psychological disorders and was committed to a psychiatric facility.