Pyromania: what is it? It is a impulse control disorder where individuals suffering from pyromania fail to resist impulses and start fires to relieve tension or feel instant gratification.
Symptoms:
When lighting fires, people will usually experience tension and an emotional buildup. They also gain intense interest of fascination and may also experience feelings such as pleasure, gratification, and/or relief. Looking at he lifestyle of people suffering from pyromania, a buildup of stress and emotion is shown and is seen in teen's attitudes towards friends and family.
Causes:
Causes of pyromania are broken down into two main groups: individual and environmental. (This also includes understanding of individual temperament, parental psychopathology, and possible neurochemical predispositions). Most cases include pyromanias the grew up without a father figure. Also, most adolescents who have pyromania have committee crimes in the past with 19% being charged with vandalism and 18% are non-violent sexual offenders. It could also be they are seeking attention and resolving social issues such as bullying or lack of friends and siblings. Another cause is that they are subconsciously seeking revenge from past events. They also experience antisocial traits such as truancy, running away from home, and delinquency. Children with this are usually associated with ADHD or adjustment disorders. Pyromaniacs also have been known for having abnormal cravings of power and social prestige.
Treatment:
Treatment is usually cognitive behavioral therapy sessions. Other treatment measures include parenting training, over-correction practice with corrective consequences, behavior contracting/token reinforcement, fire safety education, individual and family therapy, and medication. Pyromania is harder to treat in adults due to them being more stubborn. The main treatment for them is medication and long-term psychotherapy.
History:
Pyromania is recognized as one of the four types of arson being the second most prominent category. It is a rare disorder that can occur in ages as young as three although that is extremely rare. Impulse-control disorders such as pyromania, gambling, and compulsive shopping affect only 9% of the population. Out of that, 90% of pyromaniacs are male. A study in 1979 found 14% of fires were started by pyromaniacs and others with mental disorders. Another study in 1951 showed that 39% of people who intentionally set fires were diagnosed with pyromania.
Pyrophobia: what is it? They are individuals who are afraid of fires and in turn may be scared of pyromaniacs.
Symptoms:
Pyrophobes may sweat and suffer dizziness or an upset stomach seeing fire. People with severe pyrophobia may panic and have fast breathing, irregular hear beat, shortness of breath, nausea, dry mouth, dread, feeling trapped, and may tremble or faint.
Treatment:
Exposure therapy, hypnosis, and medication are used, but medication is not highly recommended due to the side effects. Exposure therapy involves showing patients fires in order of increasing size, lit cigarette to stove. Talk therapy can also be used so that they can talk to other pyrophobes.
YOU ARE READING
I Burn Everything
Teen FictionFallen and Phoenix: both are connected in more ways than one with nobody explaining it to them. Both are pyromaniacs that have a history of accidents involving fire. Fallen is a nineteen year old girl who knows nothing about an older sibling who di...
