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Erotomanic Symptoms in 42 Chinese Schizophrenic Patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Michael R. Phillips ,
Charles L. West  and
Ruiwen Wang
Michael R. Phillips*
Affiliation:
Research Centre of Clinical Epidemiology, Beijing Hui Long Guan Hospital, PRC, and Department of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, US
Charles L. West
Affiliation:
Beijing Hui Long Guan Hospital
Ruiwen Wang
Affiliation:
Research Centre of Clinical Epidemiology, Shashi City Veterans Psychiatric Hospital, Shashi, Hubei, PRC
*
Dr M. R. Phillips, Beijing Hui Long Guan Hospital, Beijing 100085, People's Republic of China
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Abstract

Background

Reports on erotomania frequently include schizophrenic patients with secondary erotomania, but there are no reports on the prevalence and characteristics of erotomanic symptoms in schizophrenic patients.

Method

A structured item on erotomanic delusions was added to the Chinese version of the Scale for Assessment of Positive Symptoms and administered to 448 randomly selected schizophrenic patients on admission to four psychiatric hospitals in China.

Results

Erotomanic symptoms were identified in 9.4% of the patients (42/448; 95% CI 6.9–12.4%); 4.5% (20/448; CI 2.8–6.8%) had erotomanic ideation and 4.9% (22/448; CI 3.1–7.4%) had fixed erotomanic delusions. Compared with patients without erotomanic symptoms, erotomanic patients were more likely to be male and unmarried, and they had a higher level of education, more severe grandiose delusions, more prominent hostility, and less severe negative symptoms.

Conclusion

The relatively common occurrence of erotomanic symptoms in Chinese schizophrenic patients may be related to the indirect manner of expressing sexual interest in Chinese culture and, thus, be an example of the cultural moulding of psychiatric symptoms.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 169 , Issue 4 , October 1996 , pp. 501 - 508
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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