Group therapy for pathological love

Grupo terapêutico para amor patológico

CARTA AOS EDITORES

Group therapy for pathological love

Grupo terapêutico para amor patológico

Dear Editor,

Pathological love (PL) is a repetitive behavior of uncontrolled excessive care for the romantic partner in a loving relationship, renouncing activities and interests once valued.¹

Lee uncovered six love styles (Eros, Ludus, Storge, Pragma, Mania, Agape).² In this model, the Mania love style corresponds to PL, which is experienced as an obsessive emotion that dominates the individual, who feels forced to continually attract the partner's attention.

We selected through media advertisement 8 individuals that felt that their way of loving made them suffer. The intervention proposed was based on psychodramatic analysis. Psychodrama group therapy is an effective approach for the enhancement of interpersonal relationships by promoting psychological insight, helping self-esteem improvement, and consequently, contributing to the development of healthier relationships.³ Intervention comprised 18 consecutive weekly sessions summarized on Table 1.

Mean age of the participants was 41.5 years (SD = 9.75), the majority were women, currently divorced or sin gle. Psychiatry comorbidity was accessed by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI)⁴ and major depression was the most frequent diagnosis (n = 5).

Participants answered a 6-point Likert-type analogue scale assessing dependency on the relationship that motivated treatment-seeking (higher scores meaning a healthier relationship). Scoring on this Love Health Scale (LHS), varying from 0 to 100, is initially defined by the patient who shares with the group her/his reasons for such self-score. Then, a final score is defined through interactions and suggestions by other group members, having the therapists as the impartial facilitators of the scoring process. The Love Attitudes Scale (LAS)⁵ provides scores on each type of love previously described on Lee's work. The lowest of all six scores is the person's predominant love style. The LHS and the LAS were both administered at baseline and at last session of the program.

Pre-treatment scores on the LHS varied from 0 to 60 (Mean = 18.1, SE = 7.8) and post-treatment scores form 60 to 90 (Mean = 72.5, SE = 4.5), a significant difference at ANOVA for repeated measures (F_[1,7] = 65.5, p < 0.001). Regarding the LAS, at the beginning of treatment seven patients had Mania as their predominant love style. At treatment end only three kept Mania as their main love style, a difference that approached significance at Fisher's test (p = 0.09).

Since it is a case series, the small sample size and lack of control precludes generalization. Nonetheless, it is the first communication on a structured therapeutic approach to PL. These preliminary findings suggest that psychodramatic analysis is a promising approach to PL.

Andrea Lorena, Eglacy C Sophia, Cidália Mello

Impulse Control Disorder Outpatient Clinic (AMITI),

Institute of Psychiatry, School of Medicine,

Universidade de São Paulo (USP),

São Paulo (SP), Brazil

Hermano Tavares, Monica L Zilberman

Impulse Control Disorder Outpatient Clinic (AMITI),

Institute of Psychiatry, School of Medicine,

Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo (SP), Brazil

Department and Institute of Psychiatry, School of Medicine,

Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo (SP), Brazil

This work was conducted at the Impulse Control Disorder

Outpatient Clinic (AMITI), Institute of Psychiatry,

School of Medicine, Universidade de São Paulo (USP),

São Paulo (SP), Brazil

^Disclosures

• 1. Sophia EC, Tavares H, Zilberman ML. Pathological love: is it a new psychiatric disorder? Rev Bras Psiquiatr. 2007;29(1):55-62.
• 2. Lee JA. Ideologies of Lovestyle. In: deMunck VC, editor. Romantic Love and Sexual Behavior: perspectives from the social sciences. Westermport Connecticut: Praeger; 1998. p. 33-76.
• 3. Kipper DA, Ritchie TD. The effectiveness of psychodramatic techniques: a meta analysis. Group Dyn Theor Res. 2003;7(1):13-25.
• 4. Amorim P. Mini International Neuropsychiatry Interview (MINI): validação de entrevista breve para diagnóstico de transtornos mentais. Rev Bras Psiquiatr. 2000;22(3):106-15.
• 5. Hendrick C, Hendrick SS, Dicke A. The love attitudes scale: short form. J Soc Pers Relat. 1998;15(2):147-59.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  25 Sept 2008
• Date of issue
  Sept 2008