Pyromania Is A Psychiatric Diagnosis About Fire Setting

Arson By Contrast Is A Criminal Charge

Courts Have Used The Two Terms Interchangeably

A Psychiatry Review Calls That An Error

Researchers In Finland Checked Repeat Arsonists Against The Criteria

They Read The Psychiatric Assessment File For Each Man

Almost None Of Them Qualified For The Diagnosis

THIS NEWSLETTER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. NOTHING IN THIS CONTENT CONSTITUTES MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, OR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. ALWAYS CONSULT A QUALIFIED HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL BEFORE MAKING ANY HEALTH RELATED DECISIONS.

OKAY BACK FROM THE FORENSIC WARD 🩺

One Forensic Review Explains What The Label Means

Setting Fires Is A Behaviour And Arson Is A Crime

Firesetting Covers Accidents As Well As Deliberate Fires

Pyromania Is The Only One Of The Three That Is A Diagnosis

That Review Says Most Arsonists Do Not Meet Its Criteria

The Criteria Require More Than The Act Itself

Tension Or Arousal Has To Come Before The Fire

Pleasure Or Gratification Or Relief Has To Follow It

The Manual Also Sets Out A Long List Of Exclusions

Psychotic States Are One Of Them

Setting A Fire For Money Is On It As Well

Someone With A Political Motive Does Not Qualify

A Fire Set During Another Crime Is Excluded Too

Rage And Revenge Are On The List

Acute Intoxication Is Another Exclusion

So The Diagnosis Covers A Narrow Kind Of Fire Setting

Most People Called Arsonists Would Not Qualify For It

The Same Review Calls Pyromania A Rare Diagnosis

That Is True Even Among Arsonists Who Set Fires Repeatedly

Finnish Researchers Reviewed Two Decades Of Pretrial Assessments

The Records Ran From 1973 Through 1993

Every Case Came Through One Helsinki University Hospital

Altogether 401 Arsonists Had Been Assessed There

Ninety Of Them Were Repeat Arsonists

That Works Out To 22.4 Percent Of The Whole Group

Repeating Meant Two Or More Arsons Before The Evaluation

Those 90 Files Were Read Against The Manual Criteria

56 Men Were Excluded On The Manual's Own Grounds

Psychosis And Organic Brain Syndrome Accounted For Some

Antisocial Personality Disorder Accounted For Others

34 Men Remained To Be Assessed

12 Of Them Met The Inclusion Criteria

Most Of Those Twelve Were Then Excluded Because Of Alcohol

9 Had Been Acutely Intoxicated During The Index Arson

Intoxication Is Itself An Exclusion Criterion

Three Men Were Left

Drinking Problems Were Common Across The Whole Group

55 Of Them Had Alcohol Abuse Or Dependency

61 Set The Index Arson While Acutely Intoxicated

Finnish Researchers Called Pyromania Extremely Rare

They Reached That Using The Manual's Own Criteria

Their Paper Calls The Validity Of Pyromania Questionable

The Authors Object To One Of The Manual's Exclusions

They Single Out Acute Intoxication As The Rule To Revisit

A Separate Review Addresses How Common Pyromania Is

The Overall Adult Prevalence Is Unknown

Reports Put It At Three To Six Percent Of Psychiatric Inpatients

Research Is Limited By That Low Rate

People Are Also Reluctant To Admit An Ongoing Urge

One Study Reported On A Community Sample Of Diagnosed Patients

Most Had Started Setting Fires By Early Adulthood

The Frequency And Intensity Increased Over Time

Two Thirds Planned Ahead For Example By Collecting Combustible Items

Stress And Boredom And Conflict Were Common Triggers

A Quarter Reported No Trigger At All

Every One Of Them Described A Rush

A Fascination With Fire Was Common In That Group

None Of Them Described Sexual Arousal

The Diagnosis Is In The Manual But Very Few Arsonists Meet It