Stalking is defined as notorious following, menacing, harassing, and contacting of a victim against his or her declared will. Such behavior can occur in a variety of psychiatric disorders. Attending physicians can also become victims of stalking. Especially psychiatrists appear to have a high risk of being stalked. Up to now, only a few studies investigated stalking behavior of patients aimed at medical professionals. In most cases, it was investigated together with aggressive behavior and sexual harassment. Cases of psychiatrists being stalked by patients or clients have not been described in detail. This case report describes a patient with erotomania who developed stalking behavior and victimized his attending psychiatrist. The relevance of stalking for clinical practice, the context of stalking behavior, and underlying psychiatric disorders and legal issues are discussed.

Als Stalking werden pathologische Verhaltensweisen bezeichnet, die sich durch wiederholtes Bedrohen, Belästigen und Verfolgen eines Opfers auszeichnen. Zu derartigem Verhalten kann es im Rahmen unterschiedlicher psychiatrischer Störungen kommen. Dabei kann auch der behandelnde Arzt Opfer von Stalking werden. Gerade Nervenärzte und Psychiater laufen diese Gefahr. Stalking-Verhalten durch Patienten ärztlichem und medizinischem Personal gegenüber war bislang Gegenstand nur weniger Untersuchungen. Dabei wurde es in den meisten Fällen mit aggressivem oder sexuell nötigendem Verhalten gemeinsam erfasst. Stalking, dem Psychiater als Behandelnde oder Gutachter von Seiten der Patienten, Probanden oder anderer ausgesetzt sein können, wurde noch nicht näher untersucht. Anhand der Kasuistik eines Patienten, der im Rahmen einer Erotomanie Stalking-Verhalten gegenüber der behandelnden Psychiaterin zeigte, sollen die Relevanz dieses Themas für die Praxis verdeutlicht, der Zusammenhang zwischen Stalking-Verhalten und psychiatrischen Störungen näher untersucht sowie die Rechtslage dargestellt werden.

Clinical experience shows that negative symptoms are affected by environmental factors. Thus, different assessors with different information about patient behavior in different environments may come to different findings of negative symptoms. In this regard, the present study evaluates to what extent the assessment of negative symptoms by schizophrenic inpatients and their relatives compares to interview-based assessments by experts. Therefore, 33 schizophrenic patients were rated by patients themselves, their relatives, and psychiatrists. Negative symptoms were assessed with comparable assessment scales using the modified version of the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) for patients or relatives and the original SANS for psychiatrists. Analyses revealed that the total SANS summary scores as rated by patients and relatives were comparable to scores rated by psychiatrists. Scores on SANS subscales of "alogia" and "attention deficits" differed significantly among the three ratings, while psychiatrists rated the patients' impairments as lower than did the patients themselves or their relatives. These findings indicate that patients' and relatives' ratings could be used to reduce information variance and improve the validity of interview-based, assessed negative symptoms.