Erotomania revisited: thirty-four years later

Erotomania (also known as De Clerambault's syndrome) is usually described as a rare delusional syndrome that characteristically involves a woman who believes that a man, typically of higher social, economic or political status, is in love with her. Two cases are reviewed here that have been followed for over 30 years, making these some of the longest, single-case longitudinal studies yet reported. De Clerambault's syndrome remains a ubiquitous nosological psychiatric entity with uncertain prognosis. In 1980, we reported in this journal one woman diagnosed as having erotomania. At that time, she had been followed for approximately eight years. She has now been studied for over 30 years. In De Clerambault's original work, as reported by Enoch and Trethowan, a woman whose chronic, erotic delusion remained unchanged was followed for 37 years. Despite some psychological advances, our original patient, like De Clerambault's, has remained essentially entrapped by her psychotic thought disorder and erotomania. A thorough review of the literature to date was contained in our 1980 article and so, to avoid repetition, we refer the interested reader to that reference. At this time, the original patient's history will be presented along with the course of her disorder and treatment implications. Secondly, another patient will be presented and her case reviewed. Finally, we will argue that this disorder is not as rare as has been claimed and call for the continued recognition of this syndrome as its own entity despite recent opinions that such use be discontinued.