Pyromania
Pyromania is a type of impulse control disorder that is characterized by being unable to resist starting fires. People with pyromania know that setting fires is harmful. But setting fires is the only way they can relieve their built-up tension, anxiety, or arousal. When around fires, a person with pyromania gains intense interest or fascination and may also experience pleasure, gratification or relief.
Diagnostic Criteria
A. Deliberate and purposeful fire setting on more than one occasion.
B. Tension or affective arousal before the act.
C. Fascination with, interest in, curiosity about, or attraction to fire and its situational contexts (e.g., paraphernalia, uses, consequences).
D. Pleasure, gratification, or relief when setting fires or when witnessing or participating in their aftermath.
E. The fire setting is not done for monetary gain, as an expression of sociopolitical ideology, to conceal criminal activity, to express anger or vengeance, to improve one’s living circumstances, in response to a delusion or hallucination, or as a result of impaired judgment (e.g., in major neurocognitive disorder, intellectual disability intellectual developmental disorder, substance intoxication).
F. The fire setting is not better explained by conduct disorder, a manic episode, or antisocial personality disorder.