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Inside the Mind of Celebrity Stalkers: Not Your Average Kind of Crazy

October 09, 2008 9:30 AM

By Joanna Schaffhausen, ABC News Medical Unit

Famous people, be they movie stars, professional athletes or politicians, all have special talents or good looks that draw us to them. But it turns out they attract a special kind of stalker as well -- the psychotic kind.

I’ve never longed to be famous; too much attention makes me uncomfortable. So it was somewhat surprising in my junior year of college when I discovered I had a stalker of my very own. His name was Dan, and we went out on exactly one date. He was polite but a bit strange. Over dinner he demonstrated his ability to speak Klingon, the made-up language from "Star Trek," and he had trouble keeping eye contact.

When he asked me out again, I put him off, claiming to be too busy. But then I couldn’t shake him. He started turning up outside my dorm and my classes. Uncomfortable, I always said hello but moved away quickly, making more excuses.

Dan started watching my dorm room and tracking my comings and goings. He called every few minutes, and if I happened to be on the phone with someone else, he got angry and made threats to “kill any guy” who was interested in me. I told him to leave me alone but he kept calling, begging for another chance.

When he followed me home from college to my parents’ house, I got scared. We called the police and gave them Dan’s information. They promised to talk to him, and thankfully, it seemed to work. I never heard from him again.

Dan spooked me, but according to new research, I shouldn’t have been too worried. Psychologists say that most stalkers of everyday people are simply socially inept or suffering from depression.

But celebrity stalkers are more likely to suffer from serious mental illness, Australian and British researchers reported at the 19th International Symposium on the Forensic Sciences on Tuesday in Melbourne, Australia. Paul Mullen, a forensic psychiatrist at Monash University and the Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health in Victoria, Australia, and his colleagues examined files of disturbed individuals who had stalked members of the British Royal Family.

Their results are detailed in a report in the British magazine The New Scientist.

“The Mullen team examined in detail the files of 250 of the remaining 5000 people judged to be true stalkers. About 80% had a serious psychotic illness, including schizophrenia, delusions and hallucinations, they found," according to the report.

The finding contrasts sharply with people who stalk nonfamous people.

"Typically a fifth of stalkers have some sort of serious or severe psychotic disorder," says forensic psychologist Rosemary Purcell of the University of Melbourne, Australia.

It makes some sense if you stop to think about it: People who stalk celebrities are typically basing their affections on imaginary connections, having never personally interacted with their target. Dan and I at least knew each other face-to-face.

But the increased level of psychosis in celebrity stalkers also makes them more dangerous. Mullen’s research finds that stalkers are responsible for roughly half of attacks on VIP targets, including the most serious assaults.

Since my experience with Dan, I’ve had the chance to read "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin De Becker, a security advisor for the government, large corporations and celebrities. The book is considered a must-read, especially for young women.

De Becker writes that women are socialized to be friendly at all times, even when it places their personal safety at risk. It’s a mistake I made many times with Dan. I didn’t want to seem rude. Instead of saying “no, I am not interested in going on another date with you,” I made excuses that gave him hope for a continued relationship.

Even when he started to scare me, I kept answering the phone and talking to him on the street. De Becker advises women who are being stalked to keep a record of phone calls or e-mails but not to answer them. If you ignore 20 calls but answer the next, it teaches your stalker he has to make 21 calls to get your attention. And for many of these people, negative attention is just as good as real affection.
For celebrities, the situation is different. They just have to smile for the camera, and some stalkers take it as encouragement.

In the "The Gift of Fear," De Becker recounts the case of Michael Perry, who stalked singer-actress Olivia Newton-John in 1983. Perry was already known to De Becker and law enforcement officials when he went on a murderous rampage in Louisana, killing five members of his family. Perry had written letters to Newton-John, claiming she was responsible for dead bodies rising from the floor of his home. De Becker feared she would be Perry’s next target.

While watching Newton-John’s home to see if the escaped madman would turn up there, De Becker found evidence of two additional stalkers on the property. But Perry never showed. Instead, he was apprehended in Washington, D.C., where authorities believe he was stalking another one of his famous targets, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Obviously, VIP targets need the help of professionals like De Becker. But his advice is just as valuable for everyday people. Trust your instincts. If you sense danger, heed that signal and remove yourself from the situation as soon as possible. Politeness will not help you if your life is on the line.

October 9, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (22)

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Posted by: Lolita | Jan 12, 2009 11:05:16 PM

Posted by: Lolita | Jan 12, 2009 11:10:34 PM

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