Do you know someone who has a celebrity crush and is too creepy?
They could be suffering from a little-known psychiatric condition called erotomania, when they really believe the star loves them too.
One in every 500 Americans who suffer from it experiences delusions such as believing that singers’ song lyrics are about them.
And experts say that in the world of online dating, it’s not just celebrities and politicians who are at risk: erotomaniacs might fantasize about regular people.
Do you know someone who has a crush on a celebrity and is too creepy? (archive image)
The DSM-5-TR, also known as the psychiatrist’s bible, classifies the condition as a severe break with reality, leading to the admirer’s obsessive pursuit of what is admired.
It can happen without the couple knowing each other, and usually the admirer is of a lower social standing than the object of his obsession.
In the digital age, this presents a particular danger for people isolated at home, able to communicate with others online, psychiatrists from the University of Pec in Hungary wrote in a new case study. It was published in the newspaper of BMC Psychiatry.
It focuses on a patient suffering from this unfortunate condition: an anonymous 70-year-old retired cook.
She was admitted to hospital after a failed suicide attempt which she initially attributed to a breakup with her husband.
A man who was arrested in January for stalking and attempting to break into Taylor Swift’s Manhattan apartment.
But during the course of psychiatric treatment, it was revealed that the woman had been corresponding online with who she thought was a world-renowned musician, although they were never named.
Reader, it goes without saying, but this patient had actually caught the attention of a catfish, not a famous musician.
Their relationship began after the fan began commenting on the musician’s social media accounts, when an account with her photo began sending her messages.
Over time, the messages between the two progressed from friendly to romantic and then exploitative, when the ‘musician’ began requesting sums of money from the patient.
At that point, the patient’s husband became concerned and filed a police report. This disturbance led the woman to attempt suicide, fearing losing communication with the musician she “loved” so much.
After four weeks of intensive therapy and treatment with antipsychotics, the love spell finally dissipated and the doctors were able to return the patient to reality.
They said the only way they could make her see reason was to develop a relationship with her where she didn’t feel judged for her feelings.
“Avoiding victim blaming is paramount, and establishing a safe, trusting, and supportive therapeutic relationship is essential,” the authors wrote.
The authors present this story as a warning to those who are online and feel alone in the digital age. Other studies show that this can happen to anyone. a case from 2017 from Temple University highlighted a young man who developed erotomania and harassed a fellow college student.
When we are online, we feel closer than ever to our objects of desire, and that can be dangerous, the investigators of the 2017 case highlight.
“Communication through social networks can eliminate the previous barriers that existed between an individual and the object of their delusions,”