Dictionary:
e·ro·to·ma·ni·a (ĭ-rō'tə-mā'nē-ə, ĭ-rŏt'ə-)  |
[Greek erōtomaniā : erōs, erōt-, sexual love + -maniā, -mania.]
erotomaniac e·ro'to·ma'ni·ac' (-mā'nē-ăk') n.| Psychoanalysis: Erotomania |
Erotomania, the ''delusion of being loved,'' is a morbid fascination that is clinically classified as a form of delusion, accompanied by insistent demands and jealousy. Emil Kraepelin associates it with the paranoid psychoses and Sigmund Freud interprets it psychoanalytically (1911c [1910]). For Freud the inverse projection of erotomania serves as a defensive function against latent homosexuality:
Another element is chosen for contradiction in erotomania, which remains totally unintelligible on any other view: 'I do not love him—I love her.' And in obedience to the same need for projection, the proposition is transformed into: 'I observe that she loves me.' 'I do not love him—I love her, because SHE LOVES ME.' Many cases of erotomania might give an impression that they could be satisfactorily explained as being exaggerated or distorted heterosexual fixations, if our attention were not attracted by the circumstance that these infatuations invariably begin, not with any internal perception of loving, but with an external perception of being loved. But in this form of paranoia the intermediate proposition 'I love her' can also become conscious, because the contradiction between it and the original proposition is not a diametrical one, not so irreconcilable as that between love and hate: it is, after all, possible to love her as well as him. It can thus come about that the proposition which has been substituted by projection ('she loves me') may make way again for the 'basic language' proposition 'I love her' (1911c [1910], pp. 63–64).
The initial core can be traced back to the narcissistic root through idealization (projection of the subject's ideal ego), split personality, and double bind situations.
In 1920 Gatian de Clérambault defined his conception of erotomanic delusion in a letter to the Société; Clinique de Médecine Mentale (Clinical society of mental medicine) as the ''coexistence of two delusions: persecution and erotomania.'' In 1921 he isolated ''pure erotomania'' within the context of emotional delusion. This emotional syndrome, which is generated by feelings of pride, desire, and hope, revolves around a ''fundamental postulate'': ''It is the object that began and that loves the most or that loves alone.'' This revelation, generally found in women, initiates the phase of hope. A number of topics are derived from this, for example, the belief that ''the object cannot experience happiness without being loved.'' From then on their protection, their efforts at closeness, and indirect manifestations of their love are combined with paradoxical behavior patterns. Interpreted as hardships and especially as demonstrations of love, they appear as persecutory during the stages of spite and bitterness that are part of a chronic, persistent development. The associated erotomania is a fluid entity, an expression of a paranoid, a schizophrenic psychiatric condition.
In spite of our clinical (found in DSM IV) and psychopathological understanding, there have been few Clinique de Me therapeutic advances for such patients, who are often intrusive and consequently rarely succeed in attracting attention for very long.
Bibliography
Demangeat, Michel. (1999). Historisation et structure dans les névroses passionnelles. Bordeaux: Cahiers de Trait.
Freud, Sigmund. (1911c [1910]). Psycho-analytic notes on an autobiographical account of a case of paranoia (dementia paranoides). SE, 12: 1–82.
Clérambault, Gatian de, and Brousseau, Albert. (1987). Coexistence de deux délires: Persécution et érotomanie (présentation de malades). In Œuvres psychiatriques (p.323). Paris: Frénésie. (Reprinted from Bulletin de la Société clinique de médecine mentale Dec. 1920.)
Perrier, François. (1967). L'érotomanie. In P. Aulagnier-Spairani et al., Le Désir et la Perversion (p. 129–162). Paris: Le Seuil.
Rosolato, Guy. (1980). Clérambault et les délires passionnels. Nouvelle Revue de psychanalyse, 21, 199–213.
—MICHEL DEMANGEAT
| Obscure Words: erotomania |
| Wikipedia: Erotomania |
Erotomania is a type of delusion in which the affected person believes that another person is in love with him or her. The illness often occurs during psychosis, especially in patients with schizophrenia or bipolar mania.[1] In one case, erotomania was reported in a patient who had undergone surgery for a ruptured cerebral aneurysm.[2] During an erotomanic psychosis, 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.[3]
The term erotomania is often confused with "obsessive love", obsession with unrequited love, or hypersexuality (see nymphomania).
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.
Contents |
Early references to the condition can be found in the work of Hippocrates, Erasistratus, Plutarch and Galen. 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 "old maid's psychosis", "erotic paranoia" and "erotic self-referent delusions" until the common usage of the terms erotomania and de Clérambault's syndrome.
G.E. Berrios and Kennedy[who?] have outlined[citation needed] several periods of history through which the concept of erotomania has changed considerably:
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 antipsychotics.
The assassination attempt of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley, Jr. was reported to have been driven by an erotomanic delusion that the death of the president would cause actress Jodie Foster to publicly declare her love for Hinckley.
Late night TV presenter David Letterman and retired astronaut Story Musgrave were both stalked by Margaret Mary Ray.
Examples of de Clerambault's syndrome (erotomania) in fiction include Ian McEwan's novel Enduring Love,[4] and the French films Anna M. (2007) and Laetitia Colombani's À la folie... pas du tout (2002), starring Audrey Tautou.
The band Dream Theater has a song titled Erotomania which is the first of a three part suite titled A Mind Beside Itself
The condition of erotomania formed the basis of the plot for the 'Broken Mirror' episode of the United States TV series Criminal Minds. This was the fifth episode of the first series.
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Psychoanalysis. International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis. Copyright © 2005 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Obscure Words. © 2008 by Michael A. Fischer http://home.comcast.net/~wwftd. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Erotomania". Read more |
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