Pyromania: causes, symptoms and effects of this disorder

People who have an irrepressible urge to burn things. Why do they act this way?

Pyrós. This Greek word refers to one of the four primordial elements of nature for the Greeks, fire. This element has presented throughout history an interesting dichotomy, being able to symbolize energy, dynamism, heat, affection and passion, but also hatred, destruction and madness.

Fire has therefore been since ancient times an element that has caused great fascination and respect. However, some people have an excessive fixation on fire, some people have an excessive fixation on itThey need to provoke it in order to calm their tension and anxiety, soothing their impulses regardless of the serious effects it may have on the environment or on other people or animals. These people suffer from the disorder known as pyromania.

Pyromania - an impulse control disorder

Pyromania is an impulse control disorder, characterized by an uncontrollable urge to perform a harmful or illegal act, regardless of its repercussions.It is characterized by the presence of an uncontrollable urge to carry out a harmful or illegal act, regardless of the repercussions. In this type of disorder, a high level of tension suddenly appears, which they need to relieve by committing the act in question, after which they feel a high level of well-being. This process is largely reminiscent of that observed in anxiety disorders, dependence and other substance abuse disorders or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

In the case of pyromania, the diagnosis is made for individuals who have deliberately set fires on more than one occasion, feeling tension before setting the fire and experiencing a heightened sense of well-being after starting the fire or seeing its aftermath. The arson is not due to the pursuit of economic, personal or social benefit. These individuals show at all times a high fascination for the observation of flames..

What is and what is not pyromania

The fact that a human being causes a fire can be due to a great number of causes. For example, it can happen and it is frequent that unintentional fires occur due to uncivic actions or carelessness such as leaving flammable materials, cigarette butts or bottles in areas with vegetation. In this case we would not be dealing with a case of pyromania, since its diagnosis requires that the fire be intentional..

One of the most confusing labels that is often confused with pyromania is that of arsonist. Arsonists are those subjects who, like arsonists, deliberately provoke a fire, but unlike the latter, they do so with a clear objective, pursuing a specific benefit or causing harm to another person or institution.

Neither is pyromania considered the production of fire due to other mental disorders such as schizophrenia, mania, dementia or substance intoxication, nor fires set by subjects with antisocial personality disorder (or dissocial in children).

Profile of the arsonist

While all people are different from each other, with major individual differences marking one's identity, common patterns can often be observed among different subjects. This happens both at the non-clinical population level and at the clinical level.

In the case of individuals suffering from pyromania or pyromaniacs, it is possible to consider the existence of a typical profile. About 90% of pyromaniacs are young males, who tend to suffer from emotional problems and tend to have a history of frustration and frustration on a personal level.They tend to suffer from emotional problems and usually have a history of personal frustrations, often with a certain level of resentment as a result.

In this disorder, the presence of an unsociable personality prevails, as well as a lower than average IQ (although this is not true in all cases). These are subjects with a high level of frustration, a feeling of existential emptiness, a high sense of inferiority and feelings of little control, power or worth, which they try to make up for with the empowerment felt when setting the fire.

It is also frequent that these subjects come from dysfunctional families.In many cases, there is a complete absence of a father figure. Similarly, in many cases there is a complete absence of a father figure.

At the occupational level, their great attraction to fires drives pyromaniacs to try to link themselves to jobs related to or from which they have access to their object of stimulation, fire. Thus, they often try to join fire departments, or even participate as volunteers in firefighting tasks. It is frequent that many of them end up helping to extinguish fires that they themselves cause, as a way of being able to observe first-hand the effects of the flames.

Pyromaniac behaviors are, together with animal abuse and mutilation and extremely violent and unempathetic actions, possible indicators of psychopathy.

Etiology (causes) of the disorder

There are multiple possible causes of this disorder.

At the psychological level, it is considered that the presence of a high level of sensation-seeking, coupled with the need for power and attention derived from a lack of social contact and bonding skills, may cause pyromania.The need for power and attention derived from a lack of social contact and the ability to create or maintain bonds with others may be the cause of pyromania. Fire setting has also been considered as a way of manifesting deep feelings such as anger at a sense of inferiority. Finally, parental patterns of violence, maltreatment and neglect of the child, or traumatic experiences such as childhood sexual abuse, can also lead to this type of disorder.

At the neurobiological level it has been correlated, as with other impulse disorders, with the presence of low levels of serotonin in the brain, as well as dysregulation of dopamine and noradrenaline. The presence of hypoglycemia has also been observed in many pyromaniac individuals.

Likewise, the temporal lobe and limbic system have some involvement in this disorder, due to the management of impulses and emotions. The frontal lobe and the orbitofrontal cortex are also involved, failing in the process of inhibiting behavior.

Possible treatments

Pyromania is a rare disorder. Its treatment has been predominantly focused on cognitive-behavioral therapy, although other theoretical approaches, such as psychodynamic ones, have been used.

The treatment in question is based on the promotion of impulse control and self-control through behavior modification techniques. through behavior modification techniques, conflict resolution techniques, self-detection of the level of tension and the application of relaxation techniques such as breathing techniques. These techniques promote the individual's ability to cope with problems, but for the treatment to be efficient, the patient's empowerment must also be worked on, helping to work on self-image and self-esteem, as well as personal interactions. Working on empathy can also be useful.

It should be borne in mind that the arsonist does not usually come to the clinic on his or her own, and is generally taken there by the patient's relatives or by court order, since most of them do not usually feel remorse for their actions despite being aware of the danger they entail. Likewise, it is of great importance to carry out prevention tasks from childhood.