Pyromania

Abnormal Psychology
May 2, 2013
Pyromania
Psychological disorders, also known as mental disorders, are patterns of behavioral or psychological symptoms that impact multiple areas of life. These disorders create distress for the person experiencing these symptoms (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). A study of psychotic individuals found that those with a mental illness were responsible for only 5% of all violent crimes (Menaster, 2012). Psychological disorders are being connected to a lot of violent crimes that have been committed over the past years. Our world is full of violent acts but why is mental illness one of the first possibilities they turn to for a cause. Many criteria are used by psychologists to diagnose and evaluate all disorders, but mental disorders are not always easily classified and it's sometimes difficult to answer if a criminal act was based on a mental illness. Depending on what criteria is met; sometimes only one is needed and in some cases more than one criteria is needed so psychologists are able to diagnose the problem. For example, an impulse- control disorder is where a person is unable to control impulses which result in harm to themselves as well as to others. Having a condition like this comes with many restrictions; let’s take for example a type of impulse-control disorder: Pyromania. Pyromania is a rare disorder with a pattern of uncontrollable impulses to set fires for pleasure, satisfaction, or a sense of relief. Pyromania currently is included in DSM-IV-TR53 as an impulse-control disorder, and proposals for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), suggest that it will remain in this category (Paul, 2012). Geller et al. (1997) say that to make a psychological diagnosis of one, they must meet five criteria; tension or arousal before setting the fire; purposeful fire setting on multiple occasions, feelings of relief or pleasure while setting the fire or watching afterward; an intense interest or obsession with fire and its associated characteristics; and absence of any other motivating factors (e.g., money, revenge) for setting the fire (O'Connor, 2012). Pyromaniac people often commit criminal acts and in some occasions put people's life in danger or even kill them unintentionally while setting fires. Pyromaniacs usually don't care where they set fire or if the property is occupied or not, they just want to feel a sense of relief. At the time of setting the fire, pyromaniacs would describe a kind of trance-like state comes over them, almost as if they were controlled by an external force (O'Conner, 2012).
Pyromania has been around for centuries and before the 20th century it was considered to be moral, or monomania disorder. It wasn't until the early 20th century that people began to argue how the body and brain were put together. Then, Pyromania was categorized as the impulse-control disorder and mental disease we know it to be now. Because pyromania is such a rare disorder, we don't know much about its biological causes. Just like before, many of the symptoms now are similar in many aspects. The main symptom of Pyromania includes an uncontrollable desire to set fires. Setting fires is how the individual get that feeling of relief and satisfaction that pyromaniacs crave so much. It is said to be a mental disorder, where the left inferior frontal portion of the brain has a low blood flow, however it is greatly influenced by the person's environments and the person themselves as well. Pyromaniac people may have personal problems, other psychological problems, anti-social traits, and even craving that are triggered by stress, boredom, feelings of inadequacy, and interpersonal conflict ; these are only a few of the reasons as to why they may get the impulse to set fires, drugs and alcohol never seem to be a factor. This disorder is often confused with arson and a fire-setting behavior. Even though these might be similar, pyromania is much more severe as well as very rare. Only approximately 2% of all reported arson cases are cause by real pyromania (Jordan, 2010). Pyromaniacs consist of individuals between the age of 10-14 (26%), the majority of them under 18 (51%) and if they're adults, usually it's around their late 20's, rarely ever over 35 years of age. Most of these individuals are considered juvenile delinquents for performing these fire-setting acts. Not always setting under consideration that it could be a mental illness. 9 out of 10 times the individuals with this disorder are males. In the case of a female, it's usually out of revenge. The majority with this disorder are from lower to working class and about 75% of them are white, 20% black, followed by Native Americans (O'Conner, 2012). It is rare to find a person with a very high IQ with this disorder. With respect to intelligence or development, most of them don't meet standards regarded as usual. When it comes to school the individual has usually been held back a grade because of learning problems. They also seem to not fit in, have interpersonal problems with opposite sex, and usually appear physically and emotionally weak compared to other peers. When it comes to family, they often have a history of an absent or abusive parent and also a history of emotional problems. All of this leads to numerous arrest records in where many of them usually confess and some also try to commit suicide when locked up.
In a 2006 letter to the editor of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, psychiatrist Jon Grant reported a case of one patient who fit the clinical definition of pyromania. Grant was able to examine the brain of this patient with SPECT imaging and found a region in the left inferior frontal portion that had a low blood flow [source: Grant]. The patient underwent three weeks of daily behavioral therapy and a daily regimen of topiramate, an anticonvulsant used to treat seizures, for 12 months. During that time, the patient reported a substantial decrease in his urge to set fires. When Dr. Grant reimaged the patient's brain, the problem was gone. The patient continued to be symptom-free while on the medication. This is the first report of a possible biological cause for pyromania and combination drug and behavioral treatment for it (Discovery Communications, 2013). Fire setting is a common behavior that is frequently encountered by forensic mental health experts when consulting on criminal and civil legal cases. Despite its prevalence, minimal attention has been paid in the literature to conducting fire setting-related forensic evaluations (Paul, 2012). Pyromaniacs, even if not permitted access to lighters or matches will always find ways to satisfy themselves. No restrictions should be put upon them because fire doesn't always need gasoline or matches to be started. I believe treatments are the way to go in the case of pyromania because if left untreated it can be incurable. If this disorder isn’t treated people with pyromania usually get into other impulsive or compulsive behaviors; for example, gambling or substance abuse. Even though medications have been an option for this disorder in the past, today, the common treatment for pyromania is psychotherapy. In this therapy, individuals learn to respond in a certain way to situations and are also reinforced. This seems to be more long term and successful than medications.
Even though so much about pyromania remains a mystery, pyromania is an important disorder to address because as many may think of these as senseless acts, many individuals might be experiencing a mental illness that needs to be treated because it doesn't go away on its own. Not only do they need therapy, but pyromaniacs play a dangerous role to our society. Even though it's a rare condition and not many cases of pyromania have been reported; it's still wise to take into consideration someone with an impulse to set fires. Adolescent fire setters have often committed other crimes such as forcible rape, nonviolent sexual offenses, and vandalism of property. Most are cooperative if arrested and confess that they’re guilty but without showing any regret. Indeed this is a dangerous disorder that hasn't been studied in great detail. Not much is known, but we do know that it’s an impulse-control disorder that needs treatment.

Discovery Communications. (2013). Pyromania causes and treatment. Retrieved from http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/mental-disorders/pyromania3.htm