Induced erotomania by online romance fraud - a novel form of de Clérambault's syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Although the impact of internet usage on mental health is extensively documented, there is a notable scarcity of reports in the literature concerning internet-induced erotomania. Erotomania is a rare and likely underdiagnosed delusional disorder. It is characterized by an irrational belief held by the affected persons that someone of higher socioeconomic status harbor romantic feelings toward them. Here, we describe the psychopathology of erotomanic delusion induced by online romantic fraud in a female patient. Employing this case as a focal point, we illuminate novel aspects of erotomania that warrant attention and examination. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a compelling case involving a 70-year-old married Caucasian woman diagnosed with medically controlled persistent depressive disorder for several years. The intricacies of her condition became evident as she became deeply engrossed in online profiles featuring the image of a renowned musician, inadvertently falling victim to an online romantic fraud. Subsequently, this distressing experience triggered the emergence of erotomanic delusions and a suicide attempt. The patient's history reveals an array of medical conditions and stressful life events, contributing to her vulnerability. The diagnosis of erotomanic delusional disorder, dysthymia, and mild cognitive impairment with cerebral vascular background was established. Treatment involved her previous antidepressant with low-dose risperidone, alongside supportive individual and group therapy. Her delusion showed remission four weeks later, prompting her discharge for outpatient follow-up. Although she retained some false beliefs, the intensity of the symptoms had notably diminished and her functionality improved. CONCLUSION: This case underscores the complex interplay between mental health, online activities, and the consequences of delusions, including suicidal thoughts, shedding light on the need for a comprehensive approach in addressing such challenging psychiatric scenarios.

Breaking all moulds? Racialized romance between white/yang women and Chinese men.

Following increased international migration to China, the number of relationships between foreign women and Chinese men has risen. This article studies how 'white women' are racialized in the Chinese context through analysing the meaning of the term yang. Based on an analysis of online content about these relationships in English and Chinese, this article demonstrates that different racial frameworks interact when the meaning of race is negotiated in romantic relationships that are not only racialized, but also international and multilingual. Finally, it shows how racial narratives are sometimes reproduced through white/yang women's accounts aimed at negating negative stereotypes about their husbands.

Love Culturally: How Does Culture Affect Intimacy, Commitment & Love.

This paper, relying on a thematic review of the literature, aimed to explore the influence of culture on human relations, particularly on love. We highlighted the innate need of humans to belong and be part of a community and, moreover, partake in an intimate relationship. Most humans yearn for intimacy, and thus it was defined and described. In our Western culture, intimacy is often found in marriage, usually built on love. Love, if not nurtured, may fade, and so we described what happens when it does. Romantic relationships, where love is usually expressed and actualized, were examined, including how it is shown, how time affects love, and what causes love relationships to be marred by loneliness. The main part of the paper is devoted to examining the effect of culture on love, its expression, and on romantic relationships. While love may be universal, its development, expression, and importance in intimate relationships differ depending on the culture and era in which it occurs.

Leonard Cohen: the duty of lovers.

Leonard Cohen sang that the duty of lovers is to tarnish the Golden Rule and that love is not a victory march but a cold and broken Hallelujah. This article explicates what erotics, romance, and love means in Cohen's songs. It compares his conception to those of other notable writers, then arrives at its own definition of love.

Preliminary evaluation of Kovacs digital occlusal splint in the treatment of temporomandibular disorders: A single-centre, cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Digital occlusal splint is a novel approach in the treatment of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and there is a lack of evaluation. OBJECTIVE: To introduce Kovacs digital occlusal splint (KDOS) and evaluate its clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) outcomes and influencing factors in the treatment of TMD. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients diagnosed of TMD by MRI and treated with KDOS from June 2020 to December 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. They were divided into three groups: anterior disc displacement with reduction (ADDwR), anterior disc displacement without reduction (ADDwoR) and ADDwoR + osteoarthritis (ADDwoR + OA). Visual analogue scales (VAS) scores of pain, diet, mandibular function, quality of life (Qol) and maximum interincisal opening were compared before and at least 8 weeks after treatment. Binary logistic regression was used to analyse the influence of four factors including age, gender, Wilkes stage and the severity of symptoms on treatment. MRI was used to evaluate the condylar bone status and disc length after at least 3 months treatment. RESULTS: One hundred and eighty-four patients were included in the study. The average age was 30.9 ± 14.2 years and the average follow-up was 19.8 ± 10.0 weeks. Pain, diet, mandibular function and Qol were all significantly improved after KDOS treatment (p < .05), with the effective rates of 71.6%, 56.4%, 55.3% and 54.1%. Binary logistic regression showed that higher probabilities of improvement were related to the patients with older age, ADD without OA and higher VAS scores before treatment. MRI showed that 94.1% of the condylar bone status remained stable or improved and the disc length was unchanged after treatment. CONCLUSION: KDOS is effective for the treatment of TMD. Older age, ADD without OA and higher VAS scores before treatment had better results.

Managing Romantic and Sexual Feelings Towards Clients in the Psychotherapy Room in Flanders (Belgium).

It is important that therapists manage adequately their romantic and sexual feelings toward clients as it can negatively affect the psychotherapeutic relationship and may even pose a risk of sexual abuse. This study explores how psychotherapists in Flanders (Belgium) manage such feelings, by conducting both a survey (using 105 of 786 respondents for analyses, as they reported romantic feelings) and focus groups (with a total of 36 participants). Results show that most therapists never consider starting a romantic relationship with a client. They reflect profoundly on their feelings, dwell on possible consequences, while maintaining strict boundaries. Although therapists themselves highly recommend referring the client to a colleague if feelings become too intense, this rarely happens in practice. Most therapists consider talking about their romantic and sexual feelings towards clients as something very important, but only a third have disclosed their feelings in supervision, peer-supervision, or in personal therapy. Therapists indicate there is still hesitance about this due to fear of condemnation.

The Paradoxical Home and Body in Jennifer Johnston's The Christmas Tree (1981).

Jennifer Johnston's fiction presents the conditions of Irish culture and society by exploring the separations between interior and exterior realms and past and present temporalities persisting within the insulating privacy of the familial home space. In The Christmas Tree (1981), the home is both haven and prison for Johnston's heroine. In this paper, I argue that the home-which assumes the form of the individual body and the familial home-is paradoxical. The protagonist leaves 1950s Ireland because of the country's rigid gender roles in order to pursue an autonomous life as a writer in England, but she is unable to publish her writing within the confines of the patriarchal publishing world. The home of her body becomes paradoxical when she becomes a single mother as an avenue for creativity but is then diagnosed with terminal cancer. She returns to her father's home to die, which she re-orders and reclaims through the disorder of the uncanny-represented by her non-conformity and illness brought into the patriarchal home. By writing her life story and creating a brief, alternative maternal relationship with her young caretaker, the protagonist confronts her own ambivalence toward her parents, who also represent aspects of oppressive heteronormative gender expectations.

O amor pedagógico e o romance escolar: outras reflexões sobre a psicologia do colegial / Amor pedagógico y romance escolar: nuevas reflexiones sobre la psicología de la escuela secundaria / Pedagogical love and school romance: new reflections on high school psychology / Amour pédagogique et romance scolaire: nouvelles réflexions sur la psychologie du lycéen

O presente artigo aborda a questão da educação de jovens frente aos impasses relativos à transmissão no encontro entre gerações. Apontamos a necessidade de se considerar a relação transferencial que se estabelece entre professores e alunos como vetor necessário para a construção de uma certa relação com o saber, somente possível pelo amor que o professor dirige ao conhecimento e aos próprios alunos ­ o amor pedagógico. Seguindo nessa direção, propomos a construção de um Romance Escolar como saída possível ao fracasso do projeto educacional contemporâneo, uma vez que esse romance possibilita ao jovem uma construção ficcional de si e do mundo, permitindo-lhe conferir novos sentidos à vida, ao saber e à própria experiência escolar, na esteira do que lhe foi deixado como legado pela tradição transmitida pelas gerações que o precederam

Este artículo aborda el tema de la educación de los jóvenes ante los impasses relacionados con la transmisión en el encuentro entre generaciones. Señalamos la necesidad de considerar la relación transferencial que se establece entre docentes y alumnos como un vector necesario para la transmisión de una determinada relación con el saber, solo posible por el amor que el docente dirige al saber y a los propios alumnos ­ el amor pedagógico. Siguiendo en la misma dirección, proponemos la construcción de un Romance Escolar como una salida posible ante el fracaso del proyecto educativo contemporáneo, ya que permite a los jóvenes hacer una construcción ficcional de sí mismos y del mundo, lo que les permite dar nuevos significados a la vida, al saber ya la propia experiencia escolar, a raíz de lo que dejó como legado la tradición de las generaciones que la preceden

This article addresses the issue of youth education in view of the impasses related to transmission in the encounter between generations. We point out the need to consider the transferential relationship between teachers and students as a necessary vector for the transmission of a certain relationship with knowledge, only possible for the love that the teacher directs to knowledge and to the students themselves - pedagogical love. Following in the same direction, we propose the construction of a School Romance as a possible way out in the face of the failure of the contemporary educational project, since it enables young people to make a fictional construction of themselves and of the world, which allows them to give new meanings to life, to know and to the school experience itself, in the wake of what was left as a legacy by the tradition of the generations that precede them

Cet article aborde la question de l'éducation des jeunes au regard des impasses liées à la transmission dans la rencontre entre les générations. Nous soulignons la nécessité de considérer la relation transférentielle qui s'établit entre les enseignants et les élèves comme un vecteur nécessaire à la transmission d'un certain rapport au savoir, uniquement possible grâce à l'amour que l'enseignant porte au savoir et aux élèves eux-mêmes - pédagogique l'amour. Dans le même sens, nous proposons la construction d'un roman scolaire comme une issue possible face à l'échec du projet éducatif contemporain, car il permet aux jeunes de faire une construction fictive d'eux-mêmes et du monde, ce qui leur permet donner un nouveau sens à la vie, à savoir et à l'expérience scolaire elle-même, dans le sillage de ce qui a été laissé en héritage par la tradition des générations qui la précèdent

Entre linhas de romances: histórias do esporte no brasil (décadas de 1920 e 1930) / In and between the lines of novels: histories of sports in brazil (1920s and 1930s) / Entre líneas de romances: historias del deporte en brasil (décadas de 1920 y 1930)

Resumo Traços da presença do esporte são encontrados em cidades brasileiras desde a segunda metade do século XIX e muitas de suas histórias já foram narradas a partir de diversas fontes. Nesta pesquisa, tomamos o romance urbano brasileiro das décadas de 1920 e 1930 como fonte, dado que neste período a literatura abriu espaço para temas presentes no cotidiano urbano, entre eles, o esporte. Nosso objetivo, então, foi mapear e analisar, em dezessete romances urbanos brasileiros publicados nos decênios de 1920 e 1930, práticas e representações do esporte moderno como parte constitutiva da trama narrativa. Em nossa análise, o esporte foi recorrente em quinze dos dezessete romances e foi possível testemunhar a multiplicidade de sentidos no fenômeno esportivo e comprovar a nossa hipótese de que o esporte, em sua incipiência ou exuberância, poderia ter seus traços captados no romance do período.

Abstract Traces of the sport's presence can be found in Brazilian cities since the second half of the 19th century and many of its stories have already been narrated from various sources. In this research, we take the Brazilian urban novel of the 1920s and 1930s as a source, given that in this period literature opened space for themes present in urban daily life, among them, sport. Our objective, then, was to map and analyze, in 17 Brazilian urban novels published in the 1920s and 1930s, practices and representations of modern sport as a constitutive part of the narrative plot. In our analysis, sport was recurrent in 15 of the 17 novels and witnessed the multiplicity of meanings in the sporting phenomenon and proved our hypothesis that sport, in its infancy or exuberance, could have its traits captured in the novel of the period.

Resumen Las huellas de la presencia del deporte se pueden encontrar en las ciudades brasileñas desde la segunda mitad del siglo XIX, y muchas de sus historias ya han sido narradas desde diversas fuentes. En esta investigación, tomamos como fuente la novela urbana brasileña de las décadas de 1920 y 1930, dado que en este período la literatura abrió espacio para temas presentes en la cotidianidad urbana, entre ellos el deporte. Nuestro objetivo, entonces, fue mapear y analizar prácticas y representaciones del deporte moderno como parte constitutiva de la trama narrativa en 17 novelas urbanas brasileñas publicadas en las décadas de 1920 y 1930, prácticas y representaciones del deporte moderno como parte constitutiva de la trama narrativa. En nuestro análisis, el deporte fue recurrente en 15 de las 17 novelas, lo cual demostró la multiplicidad de significados en el fenómeno deportivo y confirmó nuestra hipótesis de que el deporte, en su infancia o exuberancia, podría tener sus rasgos plasmados en la novela de la época.

Experiências da solidão no seio das violências conjugais. Alguns exemplos da literatura contemporânea / Experiences of loneliness within marital violence. Some examples from contemporary literature / Expériences de solitude dans la violence conjugale. Quelques exemples tirés de la littérature contemporaine / Experiencias de soledad dentro de la violencia conyugal. Algunos exemplos de la literatura contemporánea

O artigo é fruto de uma pesquisa mais ampla e tem como objetivo principal compreender algumas características da solidão no seio da violência conjugal, a partir de casos narrados em romances da literatura contemporânea. Trata-se de perceber as experiências de humilhação e desamparo das vítimas, em diferentes contextos sociais e não apenas entre casais heterossexuais. A metodologia empregada é a análise comparativa e qualitativa dos romances selecionados, focalizando principalmente duas grandes experiências emocionais, bastante frequentes nas narrativas: primeiramente o medo, que muitas vezes leva ao isolamento e à dificuldade de falar sobre o que se passa e de romper a relação; e, em segundo lugar, a esperança de que tudo pode mudar, ou de que a violência é apenas acidental e não irá se repetir.

The article is the result of broader research, and its main objective is to understand some characteristics of loneliness in the midst of marital violence based on cases narrated in novels of contemporary literature. It is about perceiving the experiences of humiliation and helplessness of the victims in different social contexts and not just among heterosexual couples. The methodology employed is the comparative and qualitative analysis of the selected novels, focusing mainly on two great emotional experiences, quite frequent in the narratives: firstly, fear, which often leads to isolation and the difficulty of talking about what is happening and breaking the relationship; and, secondly, the hope that everything can change, or that the violence is just accidental and will not be repeated.

L'article est le résultat d'une recherche plus large et son objectif principal est de comprendre certaines caractéristiques de la solitude au milieu de la violence conjugale, à partir de cas racontés dans des romans de la littérature contemporaine. Il s'agit de percevoir les expériences d'humiliation et d'impuissance des victimes, dans différents contextes sociaux et pas seulement parmi les couples hétérosexuels. La méthodologie employée est l'analyse comparative et qualitative des romans sélectionnés, en se concentrant principalement sur deux grandes expériences émotionnelles, assez fréquentes dans les récits: premièrement, la peur, qui conduit souvent à l'isolement et à la difficulté à parler de ce qui se passe et à rompre la relation; et, deuxièmement, l'espoir que tout peut changer, ou que la violence est juste accidentelle et ne se reproduira pas.

El artículo es resultado de una investigación más amplia y tiene como principal objetivo comprender algunas características de la soledad en medio de la violencia conyugal, a partir de casos narrados en novelas de la literatura contemporánea. Se trata de percibir las experiencias de humillación e impotencia de las víctimas, en diferentes contextos sociales y no sólo entre parejas heterosexuales. La metodología empleada es el análisis comparativo y cualitativo de las novelas seleccionadas, centrándose principalmente en dos grandes experiencias emocionales, bastante frecuentes en las narraciones: en primer lugar, el miedo, que conduce muchas veces al aislamiento y a la dificultad para hablar de lo que sucede y para romper la relación; y, en segundo lugar, la esperanza de que todo pueda cambiar, o que la violencia sea accidental y no se repita.

Advantageous comparison: using Twitter responses to understand similarities between cybercriminals ("Yahoo Boys") and politicians ("Yahoo men").

This article is about the manifestations of similarities between two seemingly distinct groups of Nigerians: cybercriminals and politicians. Which linguistic strategies do Twitter users use to express their opinions on cybercriminals and politicians? The study undertakes a qualitative analysis of 'engaged' tweets of an elite law enforcement agency in West Africa. We analyzed and coded over 100,000 'engaged' tweets based on a component of mechanisms of moral disengagement (i.e., advantageous comparison), a linguistic device. The results reveal how respondents defend the actions of online fraudsters ("the deviant group") by strategically comparing them to the wrongful acts of corrupt politicians ("the respectable group"). Similarly, the results show how respondents positioned this linguistic strategy to compare "the powerless group" (online fraudsters) and "the powerful group" (politicians) in society. Indeed, tweet responses suggest that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) generally looks downwards for culprits (i.e., online fraudsters) while ignoring fraudulent politicians. We conclude that the process by which some actions are interpreted as a crime compared to others is a moral enterprise.

"Don't Get Your Meat Where You Get Your Bread": Beliefs and Advice about Workplace Romance.

This investigation identified contemporary beliefs about workplace romance and compared how those beliefs have changed since 1986. Different kinds of advice about workplace romance, and how that advice was related to extant beliefs, were also evaluated. A nationwide sample (N = 259) of organizational members with a variety of professional experiences responded to an anonymous online survey. Results indicated that there were three fundamental underlying beliefs about workplace romance: workplace romance is valuable, the right to demand privacy about workplace romance, and anti-workplace romance. Different types of advice-encouraging, warning, gender concern, and silence-were related to these existing beliefs. The substantial associations between beliefs and advice provide evidence for an implicit theory of workplace romance. Personal experience with such relationships was strongly related to the belief that workplace romance is valuable and the right to demand privacy about workplace romance. Additionally, personal experience was also associated with providing advice promoting workplace romance and advocating that employees should remain silent about engaging in such relationships. These results are discussed within the theoretical lens of boundary blending between the work sphere and the private sphere of social life.

Spanish-learning infants switch from a vowel to a consonant bias during the first year of life.

The consonant bias is evidenced by a greater reliance on consonants over vowels in lexical processing. Although attested during adulthood for most Roman and Germanic languages (e.g., French, Italian, English, Dutch), evidence on its development suggests that the native input modulates its trajectory. French and Italian learners exhibit an early switch from a higher reliance on vowels at 5 and 6 months of age to a consonant bias by the end of the first year. This study investigated the developmental trajectory of this bias in a third Romance language unexplored so far-Spanish. In a central visual fixation procedure, infants aged 5, 8½, and 12 months were tested in a word recognition task. In Experiment 1, infants preferred listening to frequent words (e.g., leche, milk) over nonwords (e.g., machi) at all ages. Experiment 2 assessed infants' listening times to consonant and vowel alterations of the words used in Experiment 1. Here, 5-month-olds preferred listening to consonant alterations, whereas 12-month-olds preferred listening to vowel alterations, suggesting that 5-month-olds' recognition performance was more affected by a vowel alteration (e.g., leche →lache), whereas 12-month-olds' recognition performance was more affected by a consonant alteration (e.g., leche →keche). These findings replicate previous findings in Italian and French and generalize them to a third Romance language (Spanish). As such, they support the idea that specific factors common to Romance languages might be driving an early consonant bias in lexical processing.

Work/Life Relationships and Communication Ethics: An Exploratory Examination.

Workplace relationships that transcend formal role boundaries offer benefits and challenges to organizations and relational participants. Communicative processes that form and maintain these relationships can be examined from a communication ethics perspective focused on the outcomes emerging from these relationships that define particular goods for personal and organizational life. The blended nature of these relationships makes them host to potentially competing goods tied to public and private concerns. Considering the connection of virtue approaches to communication ethics in organizational settings to the turn to positive approaches to communication and organizational theory reveals avenues for ethical reflection and action in these increasingly important relational forms.

The dark triad moderates the association between orthorexia nervosa and relationship (dis)satisfaction.

PURPOSE: Past research has revealed a link between orthorexia nervosa (ON) and relationship dissatisfaction, which has in turn been found to be correlated with the Dark Triad traits. The current study investigated the association ON has with seeking out relationships and with relationship satisfaction, while also assessing a potential moderating effect of the Dark Triad. METHODS: Recruited from Reddit forums, 788 adults (74% female, 67% White, 63% aged 25-30 years) completed an online survey with the Orthorexia Nervosa Inventory (ONI), Short Dark Triad (SD3), and Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS). RESULTS: Greater ON symptomatology was associated with greater levels of all aspects of the Dark Triad (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy), as well as with lower levels of relationship satisfaction (among those in committed romantic relationships) and a lower likelihood of seeking new romantic relationships (among single participants). A regression analysis revealed that the Dark Triad moderated the association between ON and relationship satisfaction, whereby this association was not significant at high levels of the Dark Triad. CONCLUSION: The current research highlights that at low and medium levels of the Dark Triad, greater ON symptomology is associated with lower levels of satisfaction in romantic relationships. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level V, descriptive cross-sectional study.

Jagged Love: Narratives of Romance on Dating Apps during COVID-19.

The romance plot is one of the most pervasive narratives in Western society. It is a cultural masterplot: a story with which almost everyone is familiar, which can deeply and intrinsically shape the way we think about how we live. This article examines how people interact with the romance masterplot and how it affects their search for love on dating apps in Australia during the global pandemic in 2020. Using data drawn from interviews and focus groups, and combining sociological research and narrative theory, we explore the way the romance masterplot affects the way people approach romance in dating apps, and how this has been complicated by the pandemic. We propose that participants use of dating apps in this period was characterised by 'jagged love', which we have theorised in relation to Zygmunt Bauman's notion of 'liquid love'. This manifested cyclically, as participants turned to the apps seeking the security offered by the romance masterplot in a time of global uncertainty; swiped, matched, and messaged in large numbers, and lost faith in the apps ability to deliver on the romantic masterplot. While episodic behaviour on dating apps is not new, the pandemic heightened and accelerated the process as people desperately sought the certainty offered by the romance masterplot, quickly lost faith because of the limitations of the pandemic, and then returned again.

I hope my partner can make me change: expected relational self-changes and relational outcomes.

The Two-Dimensional Model of Relational Self-change (TDM) suggests four types of self-change that may be elicited by romantic relationships: self-expansion, self-adulteration, self-pruning, and self-contraction. Previous research has shown that these four types of relational self-change were associated with relational outcomes. Prior research has also shown that positive illusions and expectations in romantic relationships can lead to positive relational outcomes. The current study used a longitudinal design to investigate how the four types of expected relational self-change affect future relationship satisfaction and commitment. Results indicated that participants had higher expected self-changes than their actual self-changes after three months, but their expected self-changes and actual self-changes were correlated. At Time 1 of their relationship, participants' relationship satisfaction and commitment were related to their expected self-changes. However, controlling for Time 1 relationship satisfaction and commitment, expected self-changes predicted commitment, but not relationship satisfaction, three months later.

Romance Scams: Romantic Imagery and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation.

Love has an enormous effect on mental health. One does not need an actual romantic relationship to be in love. Indeed, romantic love can be built upon without frequent or real-life encounters, such as with a stranger from a matching website. With the advancement of the Internet and the influence of coronavirus disease, it is believed that these distant romantic relationships and related romance scams are burgeoning. Often, the victims of scams keep emotionally attached to the scammer even after the lie is revealed, which is hypothesized to be attributed to the aberrantly exaggerated romantic imagery of the victims. It is observed that many victims suffer from symptoms similar to a post-traumatic stress disorder, and some even consider suicide. However, there is scant literature on this topic. In this article, it is further postulated that the aberrant romantic imagery might be associated with impulsive acts such as suicide once the ideal but fake romantic relationship is dissolved. Thereafter, it is further speculated that manipulation of the visual network, possibly by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), might be a promising treatment.