Špiro Janović, Head of the Department for Emergency and Crisis States and Psychotraumatology at Zagreb University Hospital Centre, explains that pyromania is a rare and severe disorder, while the investigation into fires in the Zadar area continues.
After three Croats of Serbian nationality and a Polish woman pleaded guilty to starting ten fires at various locations in the Zadar area, the public is wondering whether these fires were the work of pyromaniacs or something else. Psychiatrist Špiro Janović, Head of the Department for Emergency and Crisis States and Psychotraumatology at Zagreb University Hospital Centre, explained to Net.hr just how rare pyromania actually is in Croatia.
Janović emphasizes that pyromania is a very complex, severe, and fortunately rare disorder. "Out of our 3.5 to four million inhabitants, there are only about 20 of them. We're talking about true pyromaniacs for whose acts they could be declared not criminally responsible in court," said Janović. This means we're dealing with an extremely small number of people who could even be diagnosed with such a condition.
According to Janović, it's a disorder of impulses. "When they light a fire, when they watch fire, they feel incredible excitement, something similar to what a drug addict feels when taking drugs," he explained. It is precisely this intense pleasure that makes pyromania extremely difficult to correct, as it requires long-term treatment, great persistence, and sacrifice from both therapists and patients.
When asked how long treatment would take, Janović replied: "Years. We're looking at five or more years of persistent treatment. That means psychotherapy sessions multiple times a month, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and the like." However, he warns that success is not guaranteed. "It's possible, but treatment is long-term, complex, and unfortunately often unsuccessful," he said.
Janović stresses that society must come to terms with the fact that medicine doesn't have a solution for every situation and illness. "Help can be given, and help should be given. But the success rate of such treatments isn't what we'd like it to be," he stated. As for the fires in Dalmatia, he believes not all of them are the work of pyromaniacs. "Unfortunately, we forget that not everything is a disease, that evil exists, that crime exists, and that there are a whole host of other reasons why someone would do such a terrible thing. There's also stupidity and recklessness. Where one small match, one tiny flame, leads to a terrible tragedy, like in Omiš and elsewhere across Dalmatia," he concluded.
Expert Ivana Ivanda Rožić commented to Net.hr that officially, not much is yet known about the motives of the suspects. "A search of their mobile phones is underway. It could be a USKOK investigation, but we'll see if there are elements of terrorism or perhaps alcohol that got out of control," said Ivanda Rožić.
