Erotomania is defined as a delusional disorder that leads the sufferer to believe a person of higher status (usually a famous person or celebrity) is in love with him or her.
Unlike fleeting infatuation or a "crush", erotomania is a delusional disorder with longterm consequences for the sufferer and the victim.
Missing Michigan doctor Teleka Patrick may have suffered from psychiatric disorders ranging from Erotomania to Schizophrenia.
Patrick, a 30-year-old first-year medical resident in psychiatry at the Western Michigan University School of Medicine, was reported missing on Dec. 6, 2013. She was last seen by a courtesy shuttle driver at the Radisson Plaza Hotel, who dropped her off at her car in the parking lot of the Borgess Medical Center where she worked. Patrick had attempted to rent a room at the hotel. But she was unsuccessful for reasons that are unclear.
We have all done this: we are shown a photo of a friend's child, and our initial response is based on the child's looks ("She's so cute! I can see where she gets her beauty from!")
We tend to especially favor children who are light skinned with long hair. Any culture that is obsessed with beauty and image breeds narcissism. As a result, most narcissists tend to be very good looking.
Narcissism in adults is a personality disorder that stems from abnormal self-developmental in childhood.
Studies show that the sharp rise in narcissists in today's society is directly linked to the explosion in social media. Instagram is a narcissist's playground where the self-obsessed upload their photos to encourage 'likes'. And there are pages on Facebook devoted to ranking a girl's beauty from 1-10.
In a blog on Huffingtonpost.com, sports psychology consultant Nicole Forester referred to social media as an "Epidemic of narcissism".
"We are each hard-wired with the desire to feel relevant. Everyone wants to feel like they matter and are important. Social media provides this outlet, but also promotes being self-absorbed," she writes.