2002/10/01 by G.E. Berrios, G. E. Berrios, N. Kennedy +1
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Marriage and Sexual Relationships #Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology #Stalking, Cyberstalking, and Harassment
paper · doi:10.1177/0957154x0201305202
openalex publication_date 2002/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Four historical convergences are identified in the history of erotomania. According to the first, which lasted from Classical times to the early eighteenth century, erotomania was a 'general disease caused by unrequited love'. According to the second, erotomania was a disease of 'excessive physical love (nymphomania)'; this view remained active well into the nineteenth century. The third convergence focuses on the view that erotomania is a form of 'mental disorder', and this was held throughout the twentieth century. The fourth and current definition (a development of the third stage) sees erotomania as a 'the delusional belief of being loved by someone else'. Differences between Anglo-Saxon and French views cast doubt on the meaning or coherence of the much-abused English eponym 'de Clérambault syndrome'. Erotomania is a construct, a mirror reflecting Western views on spiritual and physical love, sex, and gender inequality and abuse. On account of this, it is unlikely that there will ever be a final, 'scientific' definition rendering erotomania into a 'natural kind' and making it susceptible to brain localization and biological treatment.