Why does pyromania develop and how to fight it?

Since childhood, they explain to everyone that games with fire can end badly. But one thing is to make a fire of curiosity or fun for the sake of, and quite another to suffer pyromania, when the raising of fires and arsons become a necessity, an obsession that the person himself cannot overcome.

Pyromania got its name from the ancient Greek words πῦρ, which means “flame” and μανία - “madness”, “passion”. This is the name for mental disorder, which falls into the category of behavioral disorders, attraction. Pyromania is a disease that manifests itself as an incredibly strong arson and enthusiastically watch the fire blaze.

The term was first introduced into psychiatric practice in the nineteenth century, but the phenomenon itself was known long before that. Modern experts consider Pyromania not only as a mental illness, but also from a legal point of view, as a direct violation of the law, a crime.

A real pyromaniac never sets fire to anything for profit or profit, as a protest or to hide the traces of crime. His arsons are the only way to get rid of an obsessive thought, to realize it. Watching a house of neighbors blazing, a work of art, money or worthless garbage, the pyroman experiences the same joy, euphoria, satisfaction, it becomes easier for him.

Psychiatrists are aware of cases in which the pyromans experienced real sexual arousal at the time of burning something, followed by discharge. It is called pyrolazia.

Pyroman never plans in advance what to burn - an irresistible craving to commit arson arises suddenly, spontaneously, impulsively. Quite often, the pathological craving for a flame is formed in childhood, and the peak of the disease is considered to be from 16 to 30 years old inclusive.

Women suffer from pyromania much less often than men. The overall prevalence of mental illness is about 0.4% of the population. It is so much pyromaniac walking among us.

History knew a lot of pyromaniac. The most famous can be safely considered Herostratus - an ordinary resident of ancient Greece, who is not famous for anything else, except for his strange attitude towards arson. The man simply took and burned the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus to the ground.

He really could not explain his act. Historians suggest that Herostrat just wanted to get his "moment of glory." And received. Together with the sentence of death.

Pyromania was peculiar to the emperor Nerowhich did not become limited to one building and immediately burned the whole city - Rome. It burned for a week, and all this time Nero watched the fire. Realizing what had happened, when almost everything had burned down, the emperor found nothing better than how to shift the blame for the incident on Christians, after which mass pogroms began.

Known was his painful attitude to the fire and the famous physicist robert wood. Since childhood, the boy loved to set fire to something and blow up, and by the age of 8, Wood terrified others, and as a result, police regularly visited him. Then the young physicist advised the police officers, helping them to establish in an expert order the types of explosives and combustible substances that the criminals used when committing explosions and arson.

The most unfortunate can be considered a pyromaniac from France. In 1776, the police arrested Jean-Baptiste Muron, 16, who was obsessed with arson with no visible target. For a series of fires, the young man was sentenced to 100 years in prison. It should be noted that his term Jean departed "from and to", having been released at the age of 116 years.

Psychiatrists, watching the pyromania, came to the conclusion that in 99% of cases the cause of strange craving for fire should be sought in childhood or adolescence. But the disease is gaining strength later, already in adolescence and adulthood, making a person socially dangerous. It is difficult to pinpoint the cause that causes mental disorder in children, but scientists have managed to establish several predisposing factors.

• Character traits. Pyromania are usually individuals with extremely low adaptive capacity. They are almost unarmed before stresses, they have lowered self-esteem, often there is an inferiority complex. They tend to negatively look at the world, people and their actions. On the one hand, such people do not want to have anything in common with the world, but on the other hand, they need attention, and they come out of this dilemma in this way - setting fire to something to attract him.
• Rough and authoritarian model of education. It is noticed that the overwhelming majority of pyromanes grows up in asocial families. If at home the relationships are such that there is always a place of cruelty, disrespect, open or latent violence, inability to control oneself, then this lifestyle and behavior can become dominant for the child.
• Low intellectual abilities - this characteristic is also often, but not always characteristic of clinical pyromania. The reasons for the decrease in intelligence can be a low level of mental development, mental retardation, dementia, and brain injuries in childhood. In this case, the pyromaniac does not understand at all that he is doing something abnormal, antisocial, dangerous. He, as they say, "admires the current moment."
• Disorders of emotion and will, psychopathy - the main reason. But with her, the pyromanic usually has a wide profile of illegal activities - he sets fire to, and steals, and can be a fraud, prone to vagrancy.
• Frustration. It is believed that the long-term lack of ability to meet important needs (for example, in safety, food, sleep, sex) can also cause the development of pyromania. In this case, an unhealthy attitude to the flame develops against the background of severe mental stress, and the arson is perceived as an episode of rest, distraction, and discharge.

Sometimes the cause of pyromania is a negative childhood experience. For example, a child witnessed a terrible fire, which made an indelible impression on him.

Before talking about how to recognize Pyromanus, one should imagine the pathogenesis of this disease. Traction to the fire is not formed immediately, but in stages.

• Thought always comes firstbut the patient is obsessive, the person has an irresistible desire to set fire to something and enjoy the sight, it is impossible to get rid of the thought.
• Stage of deliberation includes mental admission. That is, the person has already decided for himself that he will do it, and now his mood is rising - after all, he is in anticipation.
• Stage of implementation - arson himself. At this point, a person reaches the euphoria, pleasure, he increases the production of adrenaline, serotonin.
• After a fire, when adrenaline is reduced, there is a period of repentance, awareness, a person is close to depression. And to get out of this state, he again needs serotonin and adrenaline. Since, when mania is set on fire, other methods of obtaining pleasure do not bring such an effect, an obsessive thought (obsession) arises again.

Then everything repeats. Over time, the disease progresses, the intervals between stages become shorter. Experts tend to believe that the center of pathological activity in pyromans is located in the frontal area of ​​the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for complex behavior.

Often, the first symptoms manifest themselves in childhood. A child is fascinated with ways to make fire and, despite the prohibitions of adults and punishment, he always finds matches, a lighter that he uses for their intended purpose, setting fire to small household items, garbage on the street, old tires, furniture and shops at the entrance. The excitement and desire to watch the burning again quickly appears.

In adolescence, traction becomes stronger; adolescents can set fire to arson defiantly, challenging society, concepts and rules. Adult pyromania is manifested by the repetition of the cycles described above, and in no episode of arson, a person has his own benefit, goals, or calculation. Often, adult pyromaniac can plan a fire, but they are completely unaware of its consequences. At the planning stage, the pyromans are active, they move a lot, they talk a lot, they are excited.

Between the episodes of the realization, the patients very often think about the flame, the fires, they enjoy watching all this on TV, in films, news bulletins, they like to think about and discuss ways of making fire and its sources. They may even dream of a fire.

If the pyromaniac takes alcohol, the frontal lobe of his brain reduces the productivity of analyzing complex actions, and drunk pyromans often become unmanageable, aggressive, can easily set fire to the house with people inside, the car in the parking lot, in which the child or animal sits.

Pyromania itself does not pass. It progresses if treatment is not provided on time. And small arsons gradually cease to be enjoyable, more and more adrenaline is required, and therefore patients begin to encroach on large buildings with a large number of people. Gradually the feeling of guilt goes into oblivion, and after a fire, even if it was associated with human victims, the inveterate pyroman does not feel guilty, sympathy is alien to him.

The treatment of pyromania are practiced by psychiatrists. For diagnosis, it is important to determine whether the Pyro has a purpose or a benefit. If yes, then they talk about crime, if not, then it is possible that this is a mental disorder. The only thing that causes the pyromaniac to set fire is the desire to get pleasure from the process. Tests are performed, as well as an MRI or CT scan of the brain.

It is difficult to treat pyromans - they do not recognize the presence of the disease, and therefore may refuse treatment. Quite often, therapy is compulsory. Medicines are used for treatment - in a hospital the person receives antipsychotics and sedatives. This helps reduce impulsiveness, while simultaneously reducing the intensity of obsessive manic thoughts.

This treatment is complemented by psychotherapy. But its passive methods, in which a person changes his beliefs, motivation, have little effect. Therefore, it is considered more effective the use of hypnosis sessions with elements of suggestion and NLP.

The forecasts of specialists in general are quite favorable. If the relatives and relatives of the patient help the doctors, creating an interesting and eventful life for him, full of positive impressions that will replace unhealthy cravings and teach him to enjoy other methods, it is possible to achieve a long and lasting remission.

Unfortunately, there are also relapses. But basically they are characteristic of people who continue to abuse alcohol and drugs after treatment.

At the very initial stage of the formation of pathology, it can be adjusted by educational methods, but the specialist must tell exactly how, because not always a belt and a strict ban are the only effective interventions.