A type of mania, pyromania is an
impulse to deliberately start fires to
relieve tension and typically includes feelings of gratification or relief
afterward. Pyromania is distinct from arson, and pyromaniacs are also distinct from those who
start fires because of psychosis,
for personal, monetary or political gain, or for acts of revenge. Pyromaniacs start fires to induce euphoria, and often fixate on institutions
of fire control like fire
stations and firefighters.
Behavior
modification is the usual treatment for pyromania. Other treatments include
seeing the patient's actions as an unconscious process and analyzing it to help
the patient get rid of the behavior. Often, this treatment is followed by a more
psychodynamic approach that addresses the underlying problems that generated the
negative emotions causing the mania. The prognosis
for treatment is generally fair to poor. Treatment
appears to work in 95% of children that exhibit signs of pyromania, which
include family therapy and community intervention. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
(SSRIs) are also used to treat this condition. Studies have also shown there are
therapeutic benefits associated with playing out the mania in a simulated
environment.
Pyromania is a very rare disorder, and the incidence of it is less than one
percent in most studies; also, pyromaniacs are a very small proportion of
psychiatric hospital admissions.Pyromania can occur
in children as young as age three, but it is rare in adults and rarer in
children. Only a small percentage of children and adolescents arrested for arson
have pyromania. Ninety percent of those diagnosed
with pyromania are male. Based on a
survey of 9,282 Americans using the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual on
Mental Disorders, 4th edition, impulse-control problems such as gambling,
pyromania and compulsive shopping collectively affect 9% of the population.And a 1979 study by
the Law Enforcement
Assistance Administration found that only 14% of fires were started by
pyromaniacs and others with mental illness.
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