Pyromania is an obsession with fire and starting fires in an intentional fashion. In colloquial English, the synonym "firebug" or "firestarter" is sometimes used. Pyromaniacs are identified specifically as not having any other symptoms but obsession with fire causing their behavior. It is distinct from arson, and pyromaniacs are also distinct from those who start fires because of psychoses, for personal, monetary or political gain, or for acts of revenge. Pyromaniacs start fires to induce euphoria, and often tend to fixate on institutions of fire control: fire stations, firefighters, etc.
Starting in 1850, there have been many arguements as to the cause of pyromania. Whether the condition arises from mental illness or a moral deficiency has changed depending on the development of psychiatry and mental healthcare in general.[1]
There is little known about this impulse control disorder, except some research suggesting there is an environmental component arising in early childhood.[2] Few scientifically rigorous studies have been done on the subject, but psychosocial hypotheses suggest pyromania may be a form of communication from those with few social skills, or an ungratified sexuality for which setting fires is a symbolic solution. Medical research also suggests a possible link to reactive hypoglycemia or a decreased concentration of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in the cerebrospinal fluid.[3]
To be Pyromania, there must be purposeful setting of fire on at least two occasions. There is tension or arousal prior to the act, and gratification or relief when it is over. It is done for its own sake, and not for any other motivation.[4] It is all about the pleasure of seeing what other people have to do to extinguish the fire, and the pyromaniac may enjoy reading of the effects of what they have done. [5]
Pyromania is a very rare disorder, and the incident of it is less than one percent in most studies; also, pyromaniacs are a very small proportion of psychiatric hospital admissions.[6] Pyromania can occur in children as young as age three, but it is rare in people and rarer in children. Only a small percentage of children and adolescents arrested for arson have pyromania.[7] Based on a survey of 9282 Americans using the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual on Mental Disorders, 4th edition, impulse-control problems such as gambling and pyromania affect 9% of the population.[8] And a 1979 study by the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration found that only 14 percent of fires were started by pyromaniacs and other with mental illness.[9]
Behavior modification is the usual treatment for pyromania. Other treatments include seeing the patients actions as an unconscious process and analyzing it to help the patient extinguish the behavior. The prognosis for treatment is generally fair to poor.[2]