These sample phrases are automatically selected from various online information sources to reflect the current use of the word “pyromania”. The views expressed in the examples do not represent the views of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us your feedback. A diagnosis of pyromania depends on why someone is starting a fire. It is important to distinguish between different grounds. Lighting fires is considered a behavior, not a disturbance. Not everyone who starts a fire commits a crime. “Pyromania.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pyromania. Retrieved 11 October 2022. Pyromania was considered in the 1800s as a concept related to moral madness and moral treatment, but was not classified as impulse control disorders.
Pyromania is one of four types of arson recognized, along with burning for profit to cover up an act of crime and revenge. Pyromania is the second most common type of arson. [15] Common synonyms of arsonists in colloquial English are firebug (United States) and fire raiser (United Kingdom), but they also refer to arsonists. Pyromania is a rare disease with an incidence of less than one percent in most studies; In addition, arsonists retain a very small proportion of admissions to psychiatric hospitals. [16] Pyromania can occur in children as young as three years of age, although such cases are rare. Only a small percentage of children and adolescents arrested for arson are child arsonists. The majority of individuals are men; [17] One source claims that ninety percent of people diagnosed with pyromania are men. [5] According to a survey of 9,282 Americans using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, impulse control problems such as gambling, pyromania, and compulsive shopping collectively affect 9% of the population. [18] A 1979 study by the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration found that only 14% of fires were started by arsonists and others with mental illness. [19] A 1951 study by Lewis and Yarnell, one of the largest epidemiological studies conducted, found that 39% of those who intentionally started fires had been diagnosed with pyromania. [20] Pyromania is an impulse control disorder in which individuals repeatedly fail to resist impulses to intentionally light fire,[1] to relieve tension or instant gratification. The term pyromania comes from the Greek word πῦρ (pyr, “fire”).
Pyromania is different from arson, the deliberate lighting of fires for personal, monetary or political gain. [2] Arsonists light fires to release fear and tension or to awaken. [3] Other impulsive disorders include kleptomania and intermittent explosive disorder. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR), published in 2022, states that the essential characteristic of pyromania is “the presence of multiple episodes of intentional and targeted arsonists.” [11] Pyromania has moved from the DSM-4 chapter “Impulse Control Disorders Not Elsewhere Specified” to the DSM-5 chapter “Disturbance, Impulse Control, and Behavioral Disorders.” [12] The American Psychiatric Association`s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, first edition, published in 1952, classified pyromania as a subset of obsessive-compulsive disorder. In the second edition, the disruption was abandoned. In the third edition, it returned to the category of impulse control disorders. [10] It is not clear what causes pyromania. It is thought that it could be related to one or more of the following problems. The appropriate treatment of pyromania varies depending on the age of the patient and the severity of the disease. For children and adolescents, treatment usually consists of cognitive behavioral therapy sessions during which the patient`s situation is diagnosed to find out what might have caused this impulsive behavior. Once the situation is diagnosed, repeated therapy sessions usually help to continue recovering.
[4] Other important steps must also be taken with the interventions and the cause of the impulsive behaviour.
