De Clerambault syndrome erotomania 320.6 http://purl.bioontology.org/ontology/MEDDRA/10015133 A term which has had multiple usages since Classical times. Originally it was a name for a disease caused by unrequited love; then it became a disease of excessive sexual desire or activity (similar to hypersexuality, known then either as nymphomania or satyriasis), next it became a mental disorder generally, and finally it came to be known as a paranoid delusion in which someone believes that they are loved by someone else (it is preferred to use De Clerambault syndrome for this final definition to avoid confusion). Four historical convergences are identified in the history of erotomania. According to the first, which lasted from Classical times to the early eighteenth century, erotomania was a 'general disease caused by unrequited love'. According to the second, erotomania was a disease of 'excessive physical love (nymphomania)'; this view remained active well into the nineteenth century. The third convergence focuses on the view that erotomania is a form of 'mental disorder', and this was held throughout the twentieth century. The fourth and current definition (a development of the third stage) sees erotomania as a 'the delusional belief of being loved by someone else'. Differences between Anglo- Saxon and French views cast doubt on the meaning or coherence of the much- abused English eponym 'de Clérambault syndrome'. Erotomania is a construct, a mirror reflecting Western views on spiritual and physical love, sex, and gender inequality and abuse. On account of this, it is unlikely that there will ever be a final, 'scientific' definition rendering erotomania into a 'natural kind' and making it susceptible to brain localization and biological treatment. obsessional erotomania hypersexuality The Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices The Complete Dictionary of Sexology Erotomania: a conceptual history