Erotomania, also known as de Clérambault's syndrome, is an uncommon paranoid condition that is characterized by an individual's delusions of another person being infatuated with them. It is listed in the DSM-5 as a subtype of a delusional disorder. Commonly, the onset of erotomania is sudden, and the course is chronic.
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 man who is unattainable due to high social or financial status, already being in a relationship, or lack of interest. There may be a potential genetic component involved as family histories of first degree relatives (parents, siblings) with histories of psychiatric disorders and/or dementia are common. The disorder also has behavioral similarities to early onset Alzheimer's disease (mood swings, poor judgement, confusion, hallucinations). Sigmund Freud explained erotomania as a defense mechanism to ward off homosexual impulses which can lead to strong feelings of paranoia, denial, displacement and projection. Similarly, it has been explained as a way to cope with severe loneliness or ego deficit following a major loss. Some research shows brain abnormalities occurring in patients with erotomania such as heightened temporal lobe asymmetry and greater volumes of lateral ventricles than those with no mental disorders. several periods of history through which the definition of erotomania has changed considerably:
- Classical times – early eighteenth century: General disease caused by unrequited love
- Early eighteenth-beginning of nineteenth century: Practise of excess physical love (akin to nymphomania or satyriasis)
- Early nineteenth century – beginning twentieth century: Unrequited love as a form of mental disease
- Early twentieth century – present: Delusional belief of "being loved by someone else"
In one case, erotomania was reported in a patient who had undergone surgery for a ruptured cerebral aneurysm.
Well-known cases
In his paper that described the syndrome, de Clérambault referenced a patient he had counselled who was obsessed with British monarch George V. She had stood outside Buckingham Palace for hours at a time, believing that the king was communicating his desire for her by moving the curtains.
In November 1996, U.S. Army veteran Gerald Atkins opened fire inside the Wixom Assembly Plant, a Ford manufacturing facility in Wixom, Michigan, where he killed a manager and injured three others believing that Ford was disrupting his relationship with a female employee who barely knew him.
Late-night TV entertainer David Letterman and former astronaut Story Musgrave were both stalked by Margaret Mary Ray, who had erotomania.