Pyromania

Japanese: 放火癖 - ほうかへき（英語表記）pyromania

In the early 19th century, the existence of a special mental illness in which people repeatedly set fires for the sole purpose was thought to exist. For example, F.B. Osiander suggested that the desire to set fires was the result of a disease caused by brain invasion (1813), and J.F. Meckel proposed the existence of an arson instinct (1820). However, these theories were later rejected by E. Kraepelin (1886) and K. Schneider, and the term pyromania is now often used to describe frequent arson that occurs during childhood, when intoxicated, when sexual desire is high, when frustrated, or due to mischievous or destructive impulses.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

19世紀初期には，放火そのものが目的の放火を繰り返す特殊な精神病の存在が考えられていた。たとえばオジアンダーF.B.Osianderは放火欲は脳の侵襲による疾病の結果だとし(1813)，メッケルJ.F.Meckelは放火本能を提唱した(1820)。しかしその後E.クレペリン(1886)やK.シュナイダーらによりこれらの説は否定され，現在では放火癖という言葉は，小児期，酩酊時，性欲亢進時，欲求不満時などの場合や，悪戯的･破壊的衝動などから生ずる頻回の放火に対して用いられることが多い。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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