Erotomania

This article is about a delusional disorder around an unrequited love. For abnormally strong or persistent sexual desires, see hypersexuality or sexual addiction. For the song by Dream Theater, see A Mind Beside Itself.
Erotomania
M.S.P. "Female patient suffering from erotomania", from Alexander Morison's The Physiognomy of Mental Diseases
SpecialtyPsychiatry Edit this on Wikidata
SymptomsFalse attraction
DurationChronic

Erotomania, also known as de Clérambault's syndrome,[1] is a relatively uncommon paranoid condition that is characterized by an individual's delusions of another person being infatuated with them.[2] It is listed in the DSM-5 as a subtype of a delusional disorder.[3] Commonly, the onset of erotomania is sudden, and the course is chronic.[4]

This disorder is most often seen (though not exclusively) in female patients who are shy, dependent, and sexually inexperienced. The object of the delusion is typically a male who is unattainable due to high social or financial status, marriage, or lack of interest.[2][4] The object of obsession may also be imaginary, deceased, or someone the patient has never met.[not verified in body] Delusions of reference are common, as the erotomanic individual often perceives that they are being sent messages from the secret admirer through innocuous events such as seeing license plates from specific regions.[4]

  1. ^ Valadas, Maria Teresa Tavares Rodrigues Tomaz; Eduarda Abrantes Bravo, Lucilia (23 October 2020). "De Clérambault's syndrome revisited: a case report of Erotomania in a male". BMC Psychiatry. 20 (1): Article number 516. doi:10.1186/s12888-020-02921-5. PMC 7585286. PMID 33097035.
  2. ^ a b Segal, J.H. (1989). "Erotomania revisited: From Kraepelin to DSM-III-R". The American Journal of Psychiatry. 146 (10): 1261–1266. doi:10.1176/ajp.146.10.1261. PMID 2675641.
  3. ^ Oliveira, C.; Alves, S.; Ferreira, C.; Agostinho, C.; Avelino, M.J. (2016). "Erotomania-A review of De Clerambault's Syndrome". The Journal of the European Psychiatric Association. 33: 664.
  4. ^ a b c Jordan, H.W.; Lockert, E.W.; Johnson-Warren, M.; Cabell, C.; Cooke, T.; Greer, W.; Howe, G. (2006). "Erotomania revisisted: Thirty-four years later". Journal of the National Medical Association. 98 (5): 787–793. PMC 2569288. PMID 16749657.