Diagnosis and clinical course of erotomanic and other delusional patients

Abstract

Twenty-eight patients with erotomanic delusions were compared with 80 patients with other delusions to clarify questions about diagnosis and course of illness in erotomania. The erotomanic patients were a heterogeneous group with respect to both diagnosis and course. They had significantly more manic symptoms than the comparison group and more affective diagnoses than would be expected from the literature; 25% (N = 7) had schizoaffective disorder and 7% (N = 2) had bipolar disorder. A subgroup of monodelusional erotomanic patients was identified who met the DSM-III-R criteria for delusional disorder, thus supporting the decision to include erotomanic delusions in this diagnostic category in the revision of DSM-III.