Love as delusion, delusions of love: erotomania, narcissism and shame

Abstract

Erotomania has a long, colourful history in psychiatry. It is a rare condition in which the patient ('subject') develops the belief that he or she is loved from afar by another person ('object'). The subject is generally female, though men predominate in forensic samples. The object is generally perceived to belong to a higher social class, reflecting a sociopolitical element in the construction of love. Erotomania requires active treatment and risk management as it can be associated with stalking and other offending behaviour. In addition to featuring in the psychiatry literature, erotomania features in the biography of the economist John Maynard Keynes (the apparent 'object' of a woman's erotomanic delusions in the early 1900s) and in fiction (eg, Ian McEwan's ); this reflects, in part, the general popularity of romantic themes in broader literature and society. In psychological terms, certain cases of erotomania might be underpinned by combinations of longing, disappointment, shame and narcissism in specific social contexts. Lesser forms of delusional exaggeration of true love might also exist in some stable relationships, and might even be essential for their continued existence. Overall, the division between love and delusions of love is not as distinct as one might imagine. The potential presence of an element of delusional love in many relationships might well serve important social functions, conferring specific advantages on the parties involved and increasing social and community stability. After all, delusions persist; love dies.

Dynamical Relations in the Self-Pattern

“… 5 Styron, 1990 ; Manning, 1994 ; Wurtzel, 1995 ; Foster Wallace, 1998 ; Wolpert, 1999 ; Solomon, 2001 ; Stirman and Pennebaker, 2001 ; Belle Doucet, 2003 ; O’Brien, 2004 ; Broome, 2005 ; Fuchs, 2005 ; Barton et al, 2008 ; Westerbeck and Mutsaers, 2008 ; Radden, 2009 ; Stein, 2012 ; Flint and Kendler, 2014 ; Opel et al, 2014 ; Ratcliffe, 2014 ; Trigg, 2016 ; Kelly, 2017a , b ; Kirk et al, 2017 ; Stanghellini, 2017 . …”

Gegenwärtige Aspekte des Liebeswahns

“…Stößt die Verliebtheit nicht auf Erwiderung, verblasst sie mit der Zeit, führt möglicherweise zu anderen temporären psychiatrischen Störungsbildern wie einer akuten Belastungsreaktion oder einer Anpassungsstörung. "Die Liebe geht, der Wahn bleibt", wie Kelly es formulierte [21].…”

Stalking, mental disease, imputability: Thoughts on 20 cases

“…The most frequent correlation between female stalkers and erotomania delirium is known; several studies estimate to be more frequent in females, a condition that would increase the risk of violence, representing a specific risk factor of violent behaviour (Kelly, 2017). Kraepelin suggested that erotomania illusions may serve as compensation for delusions of life (Kelly, 2017 from Kraepelin andRobertson 1921) and that they may have a relationship with unfulfilled narcissistic, heterosexual or homosexual impulses (Kelly, 2017).…”

“…The most frequent correlation between female stalkers and erotomania delirium is known; several studies estimate to be more frequent in females, a condition that would increase the risk of violence, representing a specific risk factor of violent behaviour (Kelly, 2017). Kraepelin suggested that erotomania illusions may serve as compensation for delusions of life (Kelly, 2017 from Kraepelin andRobertson 1921) and that they may have a relationship with unfulfilled narcissistic, heterosexual or homosexual impulses (Kelly, 2017). Traditionally, erotomania is classified as primary or secondary (Kelly, 2005): secondary erotomania may coexist with other psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, Fregoli syndrome, Capgras syndrome, folie à deux and a multitude of other conditions (Kelly, 2017from Kennedy et al 2000.…”