Pyromania: causes, symptoms and effects of this disorder

Pyrós. This Greek word refers to one of the four primordial elements of nature for the Greeks, fire. This element has presented an interesting dichotomy throughout history, being able to symbolize energy, dynamism, warmth, affection and passion, but also hatred, destruction and madness.

Fire has therefore been an element that has caused great fascination and respect since ancient times. However, some people have an excessive fixation on it, needing to provoke him in order to ease his tension and anxiety, calming their impulses regardless of the serious effects it may cause on the environment or other people or animals. These people suffer from the disorder known as pyromania.

Pyromania: an impulse control disorder

Pyromania is an impulse control disorder, which are characterized by the presence of an uncontrollable need to carry out a harmful or illegal act, without taking into account the repercussions of this. In these types of disorders, a high level of tension appears suddenly that they need to alleviate by committing the act in question, after which they feel a high well-being. This process is largely reminiscent of that seen in anxiety disorders, dependence, and other substance use disorders or 

obsessive compulsive disorder.

In the case of pyromania, the diagnosis is carried out on individuals who have deliberately started fires in more than one occasion, feeling tension before provoking it and producing a high sense of well-being after the start of the fire or after seeing its consequences. The provocation of the fire is not due to the pursuit of an economic, personal or social benefit. These individuals have a high fascination for the observation of flames at all times..

What is and what is not pyromania

The fact that a human being starts a fire can be due to a large number of causes. For example, unintentional fires can and are common due to uncivil actions or carelessness such as leaving flammable materials, cigarette butts or bottles in areas with vegetation. In this case, we would not be dealing with a case of pyromania, since its diagnosis requires that the fire be intentional..

One of the most confusing labels that is often confused with pyromania is that of arsonist. Arsonists are those individuals who, like arsonists, deliberately start a fire, but unlike of the latter they do so with a clear objective, pursuing a specific benefit or causing harm to another person or institution.

The production of fire due to other mental disorders such as schizophrenia, mania, dementia or substance intoxication, nor fires caused by subjects with antisocial personality disorder (or dissocial in children).

Profile of the arsonist

Although all people are different from each other, there are great individual differences that mark their own identity, common patterns can often be observed between the different subjects. This happens both at the non-clinical population level and at the clinical level.

In the case of individuals suffering from pyromania or arsonists, it is possible to consider the existence of a typical profile. About 90% of individuals with pyromania are young men, who tend to suffer from emotional problems and tend to have a history full of frustrations on a personal level, often with a certain level of resentment due to it.

In this disorder the presence of an unsociable personality prevails, as well as a lower than average IQ (although this is not true in all cases). Is about subjects with a high level of frustration, existential emptiness feeling, a high sense of inferiority that present feelings of little control, power or worth, which they try to replace with the empowerment felt by causing the fire.

It is also frequent that these subjects come from unstructured families, in which they have suffered maltreatment and / or sexual abuse in childhood. In the same way, the complete absence of a father figure is observed in many cases.

At the occupational level, their great attraction to fires prompts arsonists to try to engage in related jobs or from which they have access to their object of stimulation, fire. In this way it is frequent that they try to enter fire brigades, or even participate as volunteers in firefighting tasks. It is frequent that many of them end up helping to put out the fires that they themselves cause, as a way of being able to observe the effects of the flames first hand.

Pyromanic behaviors are, along with the mistreatment and mutilation of animals and extremely violent actions and possible lack of empathy indicators of psychopathy.

Etiology (causes) of the disorder

There are many possible causes of this disorder.

On a psychological level it is considered that the presence of a high level of sensation seeking, together with the need for power and attention derived from a lack of social contact and skills to create or maintain ties with others can be the cause of pyromania. The setting of fires has also been considered as a way of expressing deep feelings such as anger at the feeling of inferiority. Finally, parental models in which violence, abuse and neglect of the child abound, or traumatic experiences such as childhood sexual abuse, can also lead to this type of disorder.

At the neurobiological level, it has been correlated, like the rest of impulse disorders, with the presence of low levels of serotonin in the brain, as well as a deregulation in dopamine Y noradrenaline. Hypoglycemia has also been observed in many arsonists.

Also, the temporal lobe and the limbic system they have some participation in this disorder, due to the management of impulses and emotions. The frontal lobe and the orbitofrontal cortex are also involved, failing in the process of inhibiting behavior.

Possible treatments

Pyromania is a rare disorder. His treatment has predominantly focused on the cognitive-behavioral therapy, although treatments have been carried out from other theoretical aspects, like psychodynamics.

The treatment in question is based on the promotion of impulse control and self-control through behavior modification techniques, conflict resolution techniques, self-detection of the level of tension and the application of relaxation techniques such as breathing. These techniques promote that the individual is more capable of coping with problems, more so that the treatment is efficient, the empowerment of the patient should also be worked, helping to work on the self-image and self-esteemas well as personal interactions. Work empathy it can also be helpful.

It must be taken into account that the arsonist does not usually go to the consultation by himself, being generally brought to it by relatives of the patient or by court order, since most of them do not usually show remorse for their actions despite being aware of the danger that behave. Likewise, it is of great importance to carry out prevention tasks from childhood.

Bibliographic references:

• American Psychatric Association. (2002). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Revised text. DSM-IV-TR. Masson. Barcelona.

• Belloch, Sandín and Ramos (2008). Manual of psychopathology. Madrid. MacGraw-Hill (vol. 1 and 2). Revised edition

• Grant, J.E. & Won, K.S. (2007). Clinical characteristics and psychiatric comorbidity of pyromania. J Clin Psychiatry. 68 (11):1717-22

• Santos, J.L; García, L.I.; Calderón, M.A.; Sanz, L.J.; de los Ríos, P.; Izquierdo, S.; Roman, P.; Hernangómez, L.; Navas, E.; Ladrón, A and Álvarez-Cienfuegos, L. (2012). Clinical psychology. CEDE PIR Preparation Manual, 02. CEDE. Madrid.