Stalking has been in the spotlight lately thanks to the huge success of Netflix drama Baby Reindeer, created by comedian and writer Richard Gadd.
Based on a true story, the drama highlights the act of stalking, and how it can affect both the victim and the stalker themselves.
Now an expert forensic psychiatrist has revealed some of the different types of stalkers and why ignoring them won’t necessarily make them stop.
Dr. Sohom Das, 44, from London, has a YouTube channel called A Psych for Sore Minds, where he covers a range of mental health and crime topics.
He has made a number of short videos about stalking, including one clamp from a recent appearance on This Morning, when he spoke about the different drivers behind stalking.
According to forensic psychiatrist Dr Sohom Das (pictured), ignoring stalkers does not necessarily mean they will disappear
According to Dr. Das, “There are different categories of stalkers and we can classify them based on their motivation.
“So you can get a hold of your rejected stalker, someone who is already in a relationship with the victim, and come there and reconcile the relationship – they won’t take no for an answer.
“Then you have a resentful stalker who is not necessarily about a romantic relationship, but about someone who feels wronged. They feel like victims. For example, it could be a dispute over property, and they do everything they can to make the victim’s life healthy.
“And then you have an incompetent suitor… so that’s someone who honestly thinks that what he’s doing is romantic from his perspective.
‘[They are a] fantasist and there is even a subcategory of that called erotomania, which is a mental illness [where people have] delusional, so actually believing that you are in a relationship.’
Speaking of myths surrounding stalking in another clampDr. Das pointed out that many people assume that only the famous and well-known people are stalked, which is not the case.
‘[A myth about stalking is that the victims are] They are mainly celebrities, and they are mainly stalked by fans,” he said in the video.
‘So people assume that having a stalker is almost a status symbol for fame, like… having a private jet or being invited to the Oscars… but in reality, most stalking victims are regular people.
Dr. However, Das (pictured) explained that depending on the type of stalker, ignoring them can sometimes work
“In fact, about 80 to 90 percent of the time, victims know their stalkers, so they may be ex-partners…coworkers…acquaintances. [Stalkers] could even be family members.’
When talking about how to deal with stalkers, Dr. That’s another one videoin which he debunked the myth that ignoring them would make them disappear.
In it he said: ‘[A myth about] Stalkers is that the best way to deal with them is to ignore them…[but] Ignoring the problem doesn’t make it go away.
“That said, it depends a bit on the stalker’s reasons and motivations in the first case place.
‘So for example, someone with erotomania – which is a delusion that he or she is in a relationship – may have other psychotic symptoms. So ignoring them will make a difference because they may be getting their encouragement or the messages from a delusional source that you have no control over.
“And there’s the resentful stalker. They are already disadvantaged, they already feel wronged. So ignoring them can make them even angrier, which can perpetuate their behavior.
“But if you have someone like an intimacy seeker, he or she might be fixated on the original victim for a while, but eventually get the message because he or she is actually looking for any kind of relationship.
“So they move on to another target, which isn’t good for the target, but you know, it solves the problem and so can sometimes help.”
Dr. Sohom Das can be found at Tweet, InstagramAnd TikTokas well as YouTube.
