Erotomania is a rare disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that another person, usually of a higher social status, is in love with them. A disease is any abnormal condition of the body or mind that causes discomfort, dysfunction, or distress to the person affected or those in contact with the person. ... A delusion is commonly defined as a false belief, and is used in everyday language to describe a belief that is either false, fanciful or derived from deception. ... In sociology, social status is the standing, the honour or prestige attaching to ones position in society. ... A heart, a symbol of love Love has many meanings in English, from something that gives a little pleasure (I loved that meal) to something one would die for (patriotism, pairbonding). ...

Erotomania is also called de Clerambault's syndrome, after the French psychiatrist Gaëtan Gatian de Clerambault (1872 - 1934) who published a comprehensive review paper on the subject (Les Psychoses Passionelles) in 1921. Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that studies and treats mental and emotional disorders (see mental illness). ... 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

History

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 Clerambault's syndrome. Hippocrates: a conventionalized image in a Roman portrait bust (19th century engraving) Hippocrates of Cos (c. ... Erasistratus of Chios (330? BC - 250? BC) was a Greek anatomis. ... Mestrius Plutarch (c. ... Claudius Galenus of Pergamum (131-201 AD), better known as Galen, was an ancient Greek physician. ... Events August 6 - Pope Urban VIII is elected to the Papacy. ...

Berrios and Kennedy (see references) have outlined several periods of history through which the concept of erotomania has changed considerably:

• Classical times – early eighteenth century: General disease caused by unrequited love
• Early eighteenth – beginning nineteenth century: Practice 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"

Hypersexuality describes human sexual behavior at levels high enough to be considered clinically significant. ... Hypersexuality describes human sexual behavior at levels high enough to be considered clinically significant. ...

Contemporary syndrome

The core of the syndrome is that the affected person has a delusional belief that another person, usually of higher social status, is secretly in love with them. The sufferer may also believe that the subject of their delusion secretly communicates their love by subtle methods such as body posture, arrangement of household objects and other seemingly innocuous acts. The object of the delusion usually has little or no contact with the delusional person, who often believes that the object initiated the fictional relationship.

Occasionally the subject of the delusion may not actually exist, although more commonly subjects are media figures such as popular singers, actors and politicians. Erotomania has been cited as one cause for stalking or harassment campaigns. 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. In music a singer or vocalist is a type of musician who uses his or her voice as an instrument to make music. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... A politician is an individual involved in politics. ... Stalking is repeated harassing or otherwise intruding upon a persons privacy in a manner that causes fear, commonly exemplified by acts such as following or observing a person persistently and surreptitiously. ... Jack Ruby murdered the alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, in a very public manner. ... Order: 40th President Vice President: George H.W. Bush Term of office: 20 January 1981 – 20 January 1989 Preceded by: Jimmy Carter Succeeded by: George H.W. Bush Date of birth: 6 February 1911 Place of birth: Tampico, Illinois Date of death: 5 June 2004 Place of death: Bel-Air... John Warnock Hinckley, Jr. ... Alicia Christian Jodie Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and director. ...

Author and Booker Prize winner Ian McEwan based the novel Enduring Love around the theme of a science writer who is harassed by an erotomanically deluded person. The book claims to be based on a real case report which is included in the appendix of the book, although this case report is, in reality, also fictional. The Man Booker Prize for Fiction, also known as the Man Booker Prize, or simply the Man Booker, is one of the worlds most important literary prizes, and awarded each year for the best original novel written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland in... Ian McEwan (born June 21, 1948) is a British novelist, sometimes nicknamed Ian Macabre because of the nature of his work. ...

The term erotomania is sometimes used in a less specific clinical sense meaning excessive pursuit of or preoccupation with love or sex. Human sexuality - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Erotomanic delusions are typically found as the primary symptom of delusional disorder, or in the context of schizophrenia. Delusional disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis denoting a mental illness that involves holding one or more non-bizarre delusions in the absence of any other significant psychopathology (signs or symptoms of mental illness). ...

Erotomania was the cause of Angélique's (Audrey Tautou) institutionalization in the 2002 film He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not (À la folie... pas du tout). Audrey Tautou (pronounced roughly as toe-too) (born August 9, 1978) is a French actress, born in Beaumont, Puy-de-Dôme, France. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... This article can be confusing for some readers, and needs to be edited for clarity. ...

See also

• Delusion
• Delusional disorder
• Paranoia
• Psychosis
• Schizophrenia
• Enduring Love is a book/movie about a sufferer from Erotomania.
• "Erotomania" is also the title of a song by Dream Theater, on their 1994 album Awake.

A delusion is commonly defined as a false belief, and is used in everyday language to describe a belief that is either false, fanciful or derived from deception. ... Delusional disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis denoting a mental illness that involves holding one or more non-bizarre delusions in the absence of any other significant psychopathology (signs or symptoms of mental illness). ... In popular culture, the term paranoia is usually used to describe excessive concern about ones own well-being, sometimes suggesting a person holds persecutory beliefs concerning a threat to themselves or their property and is often linked to a belief in conspiracy theories. ... Psychosis is a generic psychiatric term for mental states in which the components of rational thought and perception are severely impaired. ... Categories: Movie stubs | 2004 films | Drama films ... Dream Theater: (left to right) John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, James LaBrie, Jordan Rudess and John Myung Dream Theater is an American progressive metal / rock band formed by three students at the Berklee College of Music in the mid-1980s. ... Awake is a 1994 album from progressive metal band Dream Theater. ...

References

• Berrios, G.E. & Kennedy, N. (2003) Erotomania: A conceptual history. History of Psychiatry, 13, 381-400.
• Fitzgerald, P. & Seeman, M.V. (2002) Erotomania in women. In J. Boon and L. Sheridan (eds) Stalking and sexual obsession: Psychological perspectives for prevention, policing and treatment. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. ISBN 0471494593
• Kennedy, N., McDonough, M., & Berrios, G.E. (2002) Erotomania revisited: Clinical course and treatment. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 43 (1), 1-6
• Munro, A. (1999) Delusional disorder: Paranoia and related illnesses. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 052158180X