Erotomania is one of the rare mental health conditions that happen when someone is obsessed with the idea that another person is strongly in love with them. The other person could be a celebrity, rich, or of a high social position. The condition is also called De Clerambault’s syndrome.
In this article Psychologist and Marriage Counselor Shivani Misri Sadhoo talks about what is erotomania and what are the symptoms.
This thought on being loved by the other person is considered delusional since it is not based in reality. In the majority of the cases, the person has not even met the person they are fixated on. Some people having this syndrome might believe that a stranger they have just met is in love with them.
A person having this condition could believe that the other person is trying to send them secret messages. They can feel this is happening through the news or thoughts also referred to as telepathy.
They may find it almost impossible to give up on their belief that the other person loves them, besides the lack of evidence that this is true. Erotomania can be linked with other mental health conditions that involve delusions or maniac behaviors.
Symptoms
The major symptom is an individual’s false belief that someone is deeply in love with them. There is mostly no evidence of the other person’s love. The other person might not even be aware of the existence of the person having erotomania.
A person having this condition may talk about the other person continuously. They can also be obsessed with trying to meet with or communicate with the person so that they can be together.
Some of the common symptoms are as follows:
- Obsessively watching media related to another person if they are a celebrity or prominent figure.
- Repeatedly sending letters, emails, or gifts to the other person.
- Constantly making phone calls to the other person.
- Being convinced that the other person is also attempting to secretly communicate through glances, gestures, or messages in the news, TV shows, movies, or social media.
- Making embellished but false situations in which the other person is pursuing them, stalking them, or trying to get in contact with them.
- Feeling jealous because of a belief that the other person might be in contact with other lovers or might not be faithful.
- Harassing the other person openly, sometimes to the extent of being reprimanded or arrested by law authorities.
- Losing interest in work other than talking and thinking about the other person or doing activities linked to them.