Who hasn’t missed a single episode of Youthe Netflix TV series, you will certainly have already heard of erotomania, the ailment from which the protagonist Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) suffers. But what exactly is it about? Erotomania is a psychiatric disorder in which a person has the unfounded and obsessive belief to be loved by another person. Often, however, the two have never met in real life or have not had enough interaction to justify this type of behavior. This rare mental pathology is also known as Clerambault syndrome (from the French psychiatrist Gaëtan Gatian de Clérambault who in 1921 spoke about it in the treatise Passionate psychoses).
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Characteristics and causes of erotomania
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) identifies the erotomaniac among the subtypes of delusional disorder, characterized by firmly held false beliefs that persist for at least one month. Who is affected is convinced that it is the other who secretly loves him and sees implicit messages in his behavior, even attributing meaning to involuntary attitudes (for example, body posture). He then tries to get close to the object of his desire for him because he thinks it is the latter who wants it. Attempts to contact him with phone calls, letters, checks or stalking can lead to social and, in the most serious cases, legal consequences.
Although the triggers can be multiple, erotomania is often related to a abandonment in the first years of life or gods unresolved traumarelated to situations in which one felt rejected.
Phases of erotomaniac delirium
The delusion of the person affected by erotomania develops in three phases: the hopeil spiteil grudge. Not all of them are necessarily developed by patients, who can remain at the first without moving on to the next ones.
- Hope: the patient hopes, in fact, for a declaration from the loved one.
- Spite: after a negative response, the subject removes a large part of what happened or, as more often happens, falls into depression. May become aggressive and suicidal.
- Grudge: the feeling of humiliation after rejection leads to aggression and can also lead to acts of injury.
Erotomania e stalking
Lo stalking is one of the behaviors related to erotomania. It takes the form of a series of persecutory attitudes that generate states of anxiety and fear in those who suffer themto the point of preventing him from living his daily life normally.
Not all stalkers are necessarily erotomaniacs, even if this is one of the psychopathologies they may be affected by. In the same way, it is not said that the erotomaniac gets to have harassing attitudes, such that stalking can be configured.
Diagnosis and treatment
Falling in love unrequited is a pretty common experience. Rejection, however painful, is normally accepted, even if each individual processes it in different ways and times. The erotomaniac, on the other hand, fails to do so and develops a real obsession with the desired personwith which he may convince himself that he is in a relationship that never existed.
The disease must be treated correctly in order not to risk incurring serious risks. In that case it is essential contact qualified professionals able to identify the pathology, in order to receive the treatments that serve in the management of symptoms. Treatment of delirium may involve the use of antipsychotic drugs to help patients regain a sense of reality, but varies according to the specifics of the individual case.
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