What is Erotomania?

Erotomania, also known as de Clérambault’s Syndrome,named after French psychiatrist Gaëtan Gatian de Clérambault, is listed in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Satistical Manual of Mental Disorders) as a subtype of a delusional disorder. It is a relatively uncommon paranoid condition that is characterized by an individual's delusions of another person being infatuated with them. The object of the delusion is typically a person who is unattainable due to high social or financial status, marriage or disinterest. The object of obsession may also be imaginary, deceased or someone the patient has never met.

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 states, but has no research development proof. Commonly, the onset of erotomania is sudden, and the course is chronic.

Erotomania is more common in women, but men are more likely to exhibit violent and stalker-like behaviors. The core symptom of the disorder is that the sufferer holds an unshakable belief that another person is secretly in love with them. In some cases, the sufferer may believe several people at once are "secret admirers".

Treatment for this disorder gains the best results when tailored specifically for each individual. To date, the mainline pharmacological treatments have been "Pimozide" and atypical antipsychotics like "Risperidone" and "Clozapine".