The story of a 20 years old student has gone viral on mainland social media. He is known as Liu, a resident of Jiangsu province, Eastern China. Liu, the second year student of China University has been diagnosed with “Delusional Love Disorder”. In his condition he felt all his female schoolmates have romantic feelings for him and it became so serious that he started taking bold action for his love’s sake. According to him “All the girls in school like me”. Though he received negative responses from all the girls he approached, he considered this as a sign of their shyness to accept his love. Along with the delusional thoughts , a lot of changes in Liu’s behavior like being distracted during class, staying up all night, spending money recklessly and always in his high spirits and excitement were observed.
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Lu Zhenjiao, a doctor from Huai’an No.3 People’s Hospital, who was treating Liu, said, “He has brought much trouble to many of his schoolmates,” He said more about the disorder that once it sets in, patients tend to show hyper-excitability, talkativeness and even suffer from sex addiction. “In more extreme cases patients can become enraged and attack people” added Lu.
Read more: Why do People Fall in Love?
The doctors said that the disorder is commonly seen in spring between March and April. At this time peach blossoms are in full bloom and the changing weather causes a fluctuation of endocrine levels in the body and the affected person will end up being hyper and will lose sleep. Liu started showing the symptoms in February and since then his condition deteriorated. Liu has been admitted to hospital and now he is recovering after receiving psychotherapy and drug treatments.
Love Delusion Disorder, also called erotomania, is when someone wrongly believes that another person, usually of higher status, is in love with them. Even when shown proof otherwise, they continue to believe it. They might see normal actions as signs of love. This can lead to stalking or dangerous situations. Treatment usually involves therapy and medication to help them understand reality and cope better.
