People that are attracted to fire and utilize it in a manner that can cause danger to life and limb or property damage are called pyromaniacs. Pyromania defined is an impulse disorder that can afflict children as young as 3 years old. This impulse disorder causes the individual to start fires for immediate gratification. There is a sense of euphoria that is experienced by the pyromaniac in watching the fire burn.
The Facts
1. Pyromania is a very uncommon disorder and is only diagnosed in less than 1% of the population that is tested for the disorder.
2. Pyromania is much more common among males than females. The number of pyromaniacs that are apprehended, diagnosed or treated are predominately male. 90% of all documented cases of the disorder have been males.
3. This disorder is considered an impulse disorder and has been diagnosed primarily in children and teens. The youngest recorded cases are of 3 year old children.
4. The actual number of pyromaniac cases in the US is undocumented because the reporting of fires set purposely are considered arson cases and there is not much relevant research done after the point of arrest to diagnose and treat the “arsonist”. However it is thought that a very small percentage of arsonist are pyromaniacs.
5. The incidence of true pyromania is actually on the increase. The incidence of fire setting by children under the age of 18 has increased from 40% to 55% in about a ten year span.
6. The research has shown that all the arrests that were made for under age fire starting point to the fact that white males are the most likely candidates to suffer from this disorder. A whopping 89% of children under the age of 18 that were arrested for fire starting were males and of that 89% 79% were Caucasian males.
7. One of the most compelling facts is that only 25% of all suspicious fires are ever solved whether they are started by pyromaniacs or arsonists or serial fire starters.
It is difficult to differentiate between pyromania statistics and acts of arson which on the surface seem similar but in reality are actually quite different.
For example arsonists may start a fire not for the pleasure they derive from seeing the fire burn but for financial gain. An arsonist is a criminal term while a pyromaniac is a medical term. Pyromania is an actual documented disorder that afflicts people while arson is the setting of a fire by someone who is not afflicted by the disease.
There are primarily two types of pyromania statistics. One group of pyromania’s are considered “criminal pyromania” the other group is considered “non criminal pyromania” largely the difference is whether the pyromaniac has been involved in other criminal activity including arson activities.
Pyromania is actually quite a rare disorder as documented by a study that was conducted in Finland that located at over 600 cases of arson which resulted in the determination that only 2% of the entire 600 individuals charged with arson were actually suffering from the disorder.
While the majority of the cases studied found that most of the arsonists had some sort of mental disorder or were under the influence of either drugs or alcohol when they set the fires that they were charged with only a small percentage actually met the criteria for being diagnosed as having a true affliction for pyromania.
Attraction to Fire
There is also a difference between true pyromania and an attraction to fire. Fire is something that everyone notices. It can be hypnotic at times. It gets a lot of attention. There are other disorders that may play a huge role in an individual’s willingness to let a fire rage out of control while they stand by watching.
Mentally ill fire starters are not necessarily pyromaniacs they may be attracted to the attention like a serial killer is attracted to the attention. They may have control issues and feel that they are not getting the recognition that they should be getting.
There are a host of other mental illnesses that can cause someone to be a “serial fire starter” and not necessarily a pyromaniac. There is very little known about pyromania so it is very hard to judge who is a true pyromaniac and literally just cannot help themselves and who has other mental issues that caused the fire starting.
Fire starting is a behavior, arson is a criminal act and pyromania is a disorder all with the same results but different causes. Typically pyromaniacs are not out to hurt anyone or to destroy property it is a by product of their actions. The other two groups may in fact be out to hurt someone and to destroy property.
Diagnoses -The Facts
Making a diagnosis of pyromania is not an easy task. There is a strict set of criteria has to be met for the diagnosis to be made.
• Several fire setting episodes have to have occurred (more than 3).
• Evidence of tension or stress has to have been exhibited before the fires were set.
• There must be a display of an abnormal amount of interest in fire.
• There must be a display of satisfaction after setting the fire.
• There must be no monetary, political or power gain from setting the fire as the incentive to set the fire.
Of course the individual would also have to be void of any drug or alcohol influence when they set the fires. There are several challenges in diagnosing this disorder that go beyond the criteria issues. The criterion is written with several assumptions in mind.
A. That the mental health professional is aware of the behaviors.
B. That impulse disorders are standalone disorders which many mental health professionals disagree with.
C. Many people that have impulse disorders self-medicate with drugs and alcohol as a matter of fact many people that enter rehabilitative care for the excessive use of drugs and alcohol are prime examples of not being able to control impulses hence the addiction.
Typically if a pyromaniac is setting fires by a certain age they are well aware that this is an illegal activity and will very likely not self-report this affliction to a mental health professional. In many cases when the individual is a young child the family will cover up the incidence and not report it either for fear or legal ramifications.
All of this combined makes pyromania the least confirmed diagnosis of the impulse disorders. On the upside of things there are very few >.01% adults in the population that are diagnosed with the disorder. Most of the diagnosis are made in children so either there is something that occurs within the road to maturation that reduces the impulse to start the fires or the pyromaniacs are somehow able to get the impulse under control by the time they reach adulthood.
There is so little known about pyromania that finding accurate statistics on the subject is very difficult. Since it is considered a disorder that is not prevalent very little research has been put into the disorder. Statistics are often found buried in other studies that look at arson and criminal behaviors.