Pyromania
| Classification according to ICD-10 | |
|---|---|
| F63.1 | Pathological arson (pyromania) |
| ICD-10 online (WHO version 2019) | |
The term pyromania (from ancient Greek πῦρ pyr , German 'fire' and μανία maníā 'frenzy, anger, madness') describes pathological arson and was coined in the early 19th century, see also monomania . Affected people feel the urge to start a fire and get satisfaction from the act. People affected by the disorder are also called pyromaniacs .
term
The term comes from the monomania theory of the French psychiatrists Jean-Étienne Esquirol and Charles Chrétien Henry Marc . Initially it means "monomania of arson". In the German-speaking world, equivalents such as “pathological”, “instinctual”, “addicted” or “compulsive arson” occur. It is not uncommon for the term to be used outside of a psychiatric context to characterize people who like to deal with fire (ignition) .
Clinical symptoms
classification
The term pyromania can be found in the ICD-10 in Chapter F63 (“Abnormal habits and impulse control disorders”) with the category F63.1 “Pathological arson [pyromania]”. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( DSM-5 ), pyromania can be found in the chapter "Disruptive, impulse control and social behavior disorders".
The problem with the inclusion of the term in psychiatric classification systems is that it arouses the expectation that arson with characteristics of "pyromania" would be recognized as mental disorders by court psychiatrists and courts as reducing guilt.
criteria
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , the internationally valid diagnostic catalog of psychiatry, contains the following criteria:
- The deliberate and deliberate arson in several cases
- Great tension and excitement before the act
- Great interest in fire and everything related to it
- Joy or relief during the arson
- The arson was not undertaken for financial reasons, a desire for revenge, etc.
Comorbidity
Pyromania is often associated with other disorders:
- Conduct disorders
- Learning difficulties
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Impulse control disorders
- Mental retardation
- physical deficits
Differential diagnosis
In addition to the implications for treatment, the differential diagnostic delimitation is also relevant under criminal law .
Other motives
The most important differentiating criterion for pathological pyromania is the motive: sabotage, revenge, insurance fraud or hiding a crime indicate a non-pathological arson. The search for attention or recognition should also be distinguished from pyromania. Playing with fire as a child is not a pyromania.
Conduct disorders
Arson in adolescents with conduct disorder and repeated thefts, aggressiveness or truancy, or in adults with antisocial personality disorders is not pyromania.
Symptom of other psychiatric disorders
Arson related to schizophrenia or organic psychiatric disorders are not classified under pyromania.
Intoxications
Arson caused by intoxication with psychotropic substances (alcohol, drugs, medication) must be viewed in a differentiated manner: The question of whether the impulses only arose in the intoxicated state or whether the impulse to act was already sober and the intoxicant was used to calm down is relevant under criminal law .
Epidemiology
There is no reliable data on the frequency and course. Arson occurs more frequently in childhood and adolescence (40% of the arsonists arrested are minors ) but is then usually combined with other mental disorders.
Emergence
Pyromania is often associated with learning difficulties and ADHD in childhood, language problems, physical deficits or neurological disorders, bedwetting and low intelligence.
therapy
Behavioral strategies are widely used. Experience exists in outpatient therapy with the 'graphic interview technique' and with sociotherapeutic psycho-education programs.
literature
- Karl Birnbaum: The Psychopathic Criminals . Thieme, Leipzig 1926.
- Horst Dilling et al. (Ed.): International classification of mental disorders. ICD-10, Chapter V (F); clinical diagnostic guidelines . Huber, Bern 2006, ISBN 3-456-84286-4 .
- Jean Etienne Dominique Esquirol: General and special pathology and therapy of mental disorders . Hartmann, Leipzig 1827.
- Jean Etienne Dominique Esquirol: The mental illnesses in relation to medicine and state medicine . Voss, Berlin 1838 (2 volumes).
- Werner Janzarik: Topics and tendencies in German-speaking psychiatry . Springer, Berlin 1974.
- Charles Chretien Henry Marc: The Mental Illnesses in Relation to the Administration of Justice. Voss, Berlin 1843/1844 (2 volumes).
- André Matthey : Nouvelles recherches sur les maladies de l'esprit précédées considérations sur les difficulté de l'art de guérir . Paschoud, Paris 1816.
- Tobias Müller: Impulse control disorders - old wine in new bottles? In: Rolf Baer u. a. (Ed.): Ways of psychiatric research . Perimed, Erlangen 1991, ISBN 3-88429-390-7 .
- Henning Saß among others: Diagnostic criteria of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. DSM-IV -TR . Hogrefe, Göttingen 2003, ISBN 3-8017-1661-9 .
- Ulrich Venzlaff, Friedemann Pfäfflin: Personality disorders and other abnormal mental developments. In: Klaus Foerster (ed.): Psychiatric assessment . Elsevier, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-437-22900-1 .
- S. Brunnhuber, S. Frauenknecht, K. Lieb: Intensive course in psychiatry and psychotherapy. Urban & Fischer, 2005.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Möller HJ: DSM-5: Possibilities and limits in the improvement of the classification / diagnosis of mental disorders // DSM-5: Possibilities and limitations in the improvement of the classification / diagnostic of mental disorders . In: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry . tape 19 , no. 4 . Krause & Pachernegg GmbH, Publishing House for Medicine and Economy, Gabliz 2018, p. 144-153 ( PDF ).
- ↑ a b c d Dieter Ebert: Impulse control disorders . In: Psychiatry Psychotherapy Up2date . tape 2 , no. 5 . Georg Thieme Verlag KG, Stuttgart / New York 2008, p. 321-336 , doi : 10.1055 / s-2008-1067449 .
