By Pat Kelly. Doctors and other healthcare professionals are familiar with the concept of transference but a French expert has warned that this can sometimes develop into a more dangerous manifestation — erotomania.
Dr Benoit Dalle has studied the condition of erotomania for 15 years via his work in the Sainte-Anne Hospital in Paris. He has himself been the subject of a patient’s erotomania and understands that simple ‘stalking’ — in whatever form it takes — may in fact be a red flag for a deeper psychological complication.
Those on the receiving end of an erotomaniac’s attention tend to be what are described as “socially or intellectually superior”, for example doctors, lawyers or famous people. “Something that we would probably consider as simple stalking may in fact be a mental disorder,” said Dr Dalle.
“Erotomaniacs are firmly convinced that the person they love does everything they can to hide their passion, with the help of a few people around them. Their fevered imagination allows them to construe anything the least bit unusual as a confirmation of what they believe is true.”
This, explained Dr Dalle, can include simple expressions of gratitude, a compliment or a few kind words being construed by the erotomaniac as a declaration of undying love.
Erotomania was first recognised early in the 20th Century and mostly affects women. It has been described as the “sustained and irrational illusion of being loved” by a particular person and is included in the US Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. “True erotomania can last for years, even a lifetime,” explained Dr Dalle. “I remember seeing a patient whose passion outlived the person that they loved.”
The exact cause of the condition is a matter of psychiatric debate and because it mainly affects women, some have suggested that a lack of love and attention from the father in early childhood might be a contributing factor. However Dr Dalle disagrees: “It is often the female component that is sought out in the loved person and therefore the affection deficit from which erotomania arises may have more to do with the mother.”
In terms of successful treatment, he added: “Hospital psychiatry is no longer capable of monitoring such patients for the long haul. As a result, treatment is mostly medicated and includes, among others, antipsychotic and neuroleptic drugs. These chemical solutions act only on the symptoms and don’t solve the problem.”
Dr Dalle noted that psychotherapy has been shown to yield positive results — however, because of the high rates of transference in sufferers, the therapist may find themselves on the receiving end of such attention while trying to address it. To this end, Dr Dalle recommended a third party be involved in the therapeutic process to discourage the yearning for an intimate one-on-one relationship.
pat.kelly@imt.ie
About Pat Kelly
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