Erotomaniac - who is this? This is a word that is associated with concepts such as Eros, erotica. It must be viewed from two points of view. The first of them is related to medical terminology, and the second concerns the understanding of the word in a figurative sense and is associated with an extreme degree of enthusiasm. More details about who this erotomaniac is will be discussed later.
What does the dictionary say?
The following definition of "erotomaniac" is proposed there. This is the person who suffers from erotomania, while having a very high sexual excitability.
In turn, erotomania is characterized in the dictionary as love insanity, which is one of the types of primary madness or paranoia.
The word "erotomaniac" consists of two parts. The first of them "Eros" comes from "erotica", and the second "Man" - from "mania". Next, each of these concepts will be considered separately.
Erotic
Among the interpretations of this wordare as follows:
- Sexuality, sex drive, sensuality.
- The complex of everything connected with the manifestation of sensuality, with sexual attractiveness. This applies to appearance, demeanor, intimate relationships.
- Special attention shown by erotomaniacs to the photo, image and description of the naked body and the relationship between the sexes. In works of popular culture, in conversations, this is a topic that has a sexual orientation.
- The collective name of works of art and literature, saturated with sensuality, dedicated to the image and description of the manifestations of sexuality, sexual desire.
The origin of the word "erotica"
The noun "erotica" originates in the ancient Greek language. There is an adjective ἐρωτικός, meaning "love", "passionate", "in love". It was formed from the ancient Greek noun ἔρως - "love, passion." The latter comes from the verb ἐράω, which is translated into Russian as “passionately desire”, “love”.
This verb has a direct connection with the god of love Eros (Eros) present in Greek mythology. He is the constant companion and assistant of the goddess of love Aphrodite and personifies the love attraction that ensures the continuation of life on the planet.
In a number of European languages, the word was formed by means of the Latin eroticus. In Russian, it appeared at the beginning of the 19th century, according to one version, from the Frenchérotique, on the other - from the German Erotik.
To better understand that this is an erotomaniac, it would be advisable to consider the second component of this lexeme.
Mania
In the dictionary, the meaning of this word is described as follows.
- The first of his interpretations is a medical term for a mental disorder. It is a mental state in which consciousness and feelings are focused on any one idea.
- The second refers to the use of the word in a figurative sense, when it denotes a strong addiction to something, an extreme degree of enthusiasm.
Etymology of the word "mania"
According to linguists, the term "mania" has its roots in the ancient Indian language. It contains the verb manyate, which means "to think", "to think". From it came the ancient Greek verb ΜαίνοΜαι, the meaning of which is “to rave”, “to be angry”, “to be mad”, “to rage”.
From the latter, the ancient Greek noun Μανία was formed, denoting "madness", "rabies", "mental illness", and also "delight". By borrowing from ancient Greek, the word passed into Latin, where it acquired the form mania, in the same meaning. From Latin, it "migrated" to many European languages. According to one version, it got into the Russian language in the 18th century, being borrowed from Polish, where there is the word mania.
Pronunciation and spelling rules
Correct spelling of the word"erotomaniac" often causes difficulties. This is because his pronunciation does not match his spelling.
In the second syllable, the presence of the letter "o" is explained by its presence in the word "erotica", from which the word under study is formed and which is a test. In the third syllable, the letter "o" is written according to the rule that it is a connecting vowel between the two components - "erot" and "man".
Next, you should refer directly to the concepts of "erotomaniac" and "erotomania".
One of the varieties
This is what we are talking about when doctors talk about erotomania, which is a delusional belief that a person loves a person who actually has absolutely no feelings for him. Sometimes she doesn't even know it exists. This variety has its own name - "Clerambault's erotomania". It is often observed in psychosis. This is usually the case with illnesses such as schizophrenia and the manic phase of bipolar disorder.
It seems to the patient that the one who is the object of erotomania shows his attention to him in an unusual way. These can be special signs, secret signals that are transmitted through telepathy or through encrypted messages in the media.
Usually, erotomaniacs react to such "messages" by responding to imaginary affection with letters, phone calls, gifts, personal visits, and so on. They are not convinced of the illusory nature of love and the denial of its existence on the part of the object. Patientsinterpret this fact as one of the tricks inherent in a complex strategy, the application of which is necessary to hide secret relationships from the outside world.
Delirium of a lonely woman
Erotic delusions were first described by the French psychiatrist Clerambo, who lived at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, in one of his works in 1921. In addition to the above, it also bears such names as "delusion of love charm", "Clerambault syndrome".
The subject most often is a single woman. She believes that a person who lives in the highest social spheres has fallen in love with her. An imaginary admirer, as a rule, is out of range. This is a person standing on a higher rung of the social ladder, or a famous actor, singer, politician, public figure.
According to the description of Clerambault, a woman, seized with insane passion, believes that it was the “object” who fell in love with her first, that he loves more or loves only he alone. This gives her a sense of pride and satisfaction. The patient is convinced that a man cannot communicate with her directly for a number of reasons, and therefore he is forced to invent various paradoxical and contradictory ways.
A woman erotomaniac sometimes very much annoys the "object" of her painful passion. At the same time, she shows extreme tenacity and is immune to reality. In some patients, love delirium turns into persecution mania. They are ready to insult the “object”, make public accusations against him.
Clerambault says that their hope is replaced bydisappointment, followed by resentment, which turns into aggression. The most accurate Clerambault syndrome in artistic terms is demonstrated in the novel by the British writer Ian Russell McEwan, laureate of the S. Maugham and Booker Prize, called "Intolerable Love".
In conclusion of the consideration of the question that this is erotomania, it is worth noting that hypersexuality is also called this word. It is understood as sexual desire, considered by experts as increased, as well as sexual activity associated with this manifestation. Sometimes it is accompanied by perversions. At the same time, the term “nymphomania” is used for women, and “satiriasis” for men.
