Primary and secondary erotomania: clinical characteristics and follow‐up

Abstract

A survey within a defined area of the north-east of England (population of approximately 1.25 million) generated a number of patients with current or past erotomanic phenomenology. A casenote study was carried out on the 11 patients identified. Cases were classified in accordance with DSM-111-R criteria and an assessment was made of the extent to which each case fulfilled specific criteria for primary and secondary erotomania, as defined by previous authors. The response to treatment of both psychiatric syndrome and erotomanic phenomenology is described for each case. The findings are discussed in relation to the current debate regarding the status of de Clerabault's syndrome and delusional disorder (erotomanic type) as nosological entities.