Pyromania is a pathological mental disorder with which affected individuals experience a pathological (compulsive) desire to set fires for no apparent reason. Pyromania is one of the most spectacular mental disorders, but also one of the most consequential.
What is pyromania?
The phenomenon of pyromania is far from conclusively understood and is of great interest to criminologists, neurologists, forensic scientists, and psychologists. Various therapeutic approaches seek preventive measures to prevent affected individuals from giving in to their pathological desire to set fires. To date, there is little scientifically and medically validated knowledge about pathological arsonists.
Causes
The clinical picture of pathological arson is an unusual and, above all, momentous one. The reasons and causes leading to this mental disorder have not yet been conclusively researched and classified. Affected individuals attempt or complete arson of objects and houses without any apparently understandable motive. They are often impulsive acts out of an affective mood. The affected persons give in to a morbid or sensual urge without a clear idea. Sometimes they themselves are surprised by their deed. The clinical picture is characterized by a pronounced fascination with all processes that have to do with fire and the subsequent fire event. The pyromaniac goes through a high of affective excitement in the run-up to the setting of the fire. When the flames spread after the arson is complete, the pyromaniac watches his work in spellbound awe. Not all pyromaniacs leave the scene after completing their work, but remain at the scene as spectators. Often they are even the ones who set off the alarm signal to the police and fire department. During the fire, the initial tension gives way to a state of relaxation, satisfaction, well-being and pleasure. Pyromaniacs do not see the fires they set as dangerous and punishable acts, but as a work they have created and of which they are proud. There is no sense of guilt in the face of the destruction of other people’s property that accompanies the setting of fires, the dangers involved, and a possible fatal outcome for the people involved.
Symptoms, complaints, and signs
Pyromaniacs have no insight into their condition. Men appear to be more commonly affected by this mental disorder than women. Pyromaniacs have low self-esteem, poor social skills, and often live in difficult social circumstances. These characteristics may be accompanied by reduced intelligence, low empathy, and learning difficulties. Many pyromaniacs have already exhibited behavioral problems in their childhood. Newspapers regularly report on pyromaniacs who work as firefighters in the local fire department. During the extinguishing work of the fire they set themselves, they distinguish themselves by special activity and courageous behavior, which subsequently meets with great recognition in the social environment. If they are not quickly caught in the act and live out their behavior over a long period of time, there is a risk of chronicity. If fires are set out of hatred, envy, revenge, anger, defiance, humiliation, jealousy and general dissatisfaction with the professional and private social environment, it is difficult for psychologists to decide when arson for base personal motives is present and when the borderline to pyromania is crossed. Pyromaniacs pursue the goal of changing their lives and their social environment with the fires they set. They feel power over the situation and the people involved with it. Clearly to be distinguished from pyromania are terrorist or politically motivated acts as well as acts of sabotage. Arson, which serves to cover the traces of crimes, also does not fall into the picture of this pathological disorder.
Diagnosis and course of the disease
In order to find effective diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, it is first necessary to deal with the forensic (forensic psychiatric) and scientific evidence. A large number of convicted offenders belong to the age group of children and adolescents with developmental ignition and handling of matches.Pyromania predominantly affects people in the first trimester of life. A large proportion of the perpetrators have a criminal record, and they are often not married, divorced or living separately. Social isolation can also play a role. Many arsons take place in rural areas. Adults prefer to set their fires at night, young people during the day. About one-fifth of pyromaniacs are mentally handicapped, and in one in 10 cases forensic experts suspect a personality disorder. The predominant motive is frustration and dissatisfaction with their own lives and social environment. Revenge is rarely a motive, as pyromaniacs are usually not in a relationship with the victims affected by their arson. Although new classifications exclude the use of alcohol, drugs and similar intoxicants from the pathological picture, alcohol plays a role in many cases. This problem most often affects older arsonists. Rare diagnoses include dementia, delusional psychosis, depression, suicidal and sexual motives, brain-organic psychosyndrome, and other personality disorders.
Complications
Pyromania, considered as a condition in its own right, mainly entails complications in the form of legal difficulties. Thus, damage to property and, in worse cases, personal injury can mean loss of money, social status, or even freedom for the pyromaniac. Accordingly, pyromania can lead to a form of isolation. With the frequency of fires set, the risk of having to take responsibility for them increases. In addition, this impulse control disorder is very often associated with other psychological disorders, which leads to other complications. If pathological fire-setting is a compensatory mechanism (lack of self-esteem, reduced intelligence), episodes of setting or planning to set fires may intensify when the person is otherwise subject to emotional stress. In cases where fire setting is primarily for attention or occupation (ADHD, social behavior disorders), the risk of loss of control is even more likely. Because a fire is not one hundred percent controllable, there is always a risk that the pyromaniac will overestimate his or her abilities or underestimate the fire. It is then that personal injury and serious property damage can occur.
When should you go to the doctor?
In pyromania, medical treatment is always necessary. As a rule, there is no self-healing and severe psychological discomfort or even depression. Since those affected by pyromania can also harm other people, the patient should always be treated as soon as possible. A doctor should be consulted if the patient sets fires in various places and thus harms other people or damages property. In addition to the urge to set fires, patients usually suffer from lowered self-esteem or strong self-doubt. Likewise, there are difficulties in learning or social difficulties. Not infrequently, bullying or teasing can also lead to pyromania and should be discussed with a physician if these complaints complicate the life of the affected person. Pyromania should always be treated by a psychologist. This may include compulsory hospitalization if the sufferer does not recognize his or her condition.
Treatment and therapy
Since there are no scientifically validated therapy options to date, the only remaining option is psychoeducation, which teaches affected individuals how to deal safely with fire and educates them about the dangers. Psychotherapy that targets emotion and impulse control can be successful. Self-control by keeping an emotion calendar is also a starting point. However, to achieve this motivated patient cooperation, insight into the disorder is a prerequisite. Other approaches include repeated fire-setting under supervision to induce a feeling of satiety and aversion training, with the goal of achieving an aversion to fire.
Prevention
Because the course of the disease is episodic in many cases, with symptom-free intervals alternating with periods when the pathological disorder is predominant, many pyromaniacs often pursue their passion undetected for years. Since the differentiation between a pathological obsessive-compulsive disorder and other behavioral disorders is difficult for laypersons in the social environment of those affected, prevention in the clinical sense is hardly possible.
Aftercare
In the aftercare of an addictive disorder such as pyromania, the reintegration of the affected person into society is of great importance. Facilities that offer assisted living, including a support group and continued therapy, are particularly helpful in this regard. Those affected are confronted with everyday life again in the group, while still receiving professional help from specially trained addiction counselors and therapists at the beginning. After such a stay, further therapeutic support for those affected is advisable. The success of such aftercare and the prevention of relapse lie primarily in the motivation of the person affected. In addition, the environment, the integration into everyday life and the regaining of independence are important. Involvement in the family and support from the circle of friends play a decisive role in the progress of recovery. If possible, the person affected should also return to a regular activity such as work or a charitable task. In every city there are special contact points for addicts, which provide assistance in this regard. Leisure time can also be enhanced by finding and pursuing a hobby. Besides, new contacts can be made and regular appointments for such a hobby strengthen the integration into everyday life.
