"Love mania" stopped

Patient even stalked doctor with an erotic novel

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

During a hospital stay, an Upper Austrian woman fell head over heels in love with her attending doctor - she sent him love letters and even wrote him a thick erotic novel. In a love mania, a Supreme Court decision now states. Nevertheless, she must refrain from claiming that she had an intimate relationship with the doctor.

"Love knows no bounds" - as the saying goes. But in the case of an Upper Austrian woman, it does. And it has now even been drawn by the Supreme Court. She is no longer allowed to talk or write about her relationship with the man of her dreams. 

Pages of love letters and an erotic novel
Especially as there was no love affair at all: In May 2018, the defendant was treated in a hospital in Upper Austria, where she fell in love with her doctor. "From summer 2018, she tried incessantly and intensively to get in touch with him in various ways. She wrote him numerous page-long love letters to his private address and also left them at his workplace," the Supreme Court ruling states. In long chat messages, she described her love and longing for the doctor - but he never reciprocated these feelings and had no interest in an intimate romantic relationship with his patient.

For almost two years, the Upper Austrian woman bombarded the man with declarations of love - she even wrote a novel of over 200 pages about the invented intimate relationship. The protagonists in it were easy to identify. At least for a doctor colleague who found the book in a hospital mailbox.

Despite therapy, the defendant has been suffering from a persistent delusional disorder, a love mania, since 2018. This disorder is resistant to therapy.

Entscheidungstext des Obersten Gerichtshofs

This was the straw that broke the camel's back for the doctor. He sued the woman in love for injunctive relief and won the civil case at Gmunden District Court. She appealed because she could not help it: "Despite therapy, the defendant has been suffering from a persistent delusional disorder, a love mania, since 2018. This disorder is resistant to therapy," said the highest court. The obsession with the doctor could flare up again and again.

Defendant in love simply could not help it
The injunction was nevertheless upheld by the Regional Court of Wels and ultimately also by the Supreme Court. According to the Supreme Court, the Upper Austrian woman's argument that she was not in a position to willingly comply with the injunction due to her love mania is not justified. She must therefore stop making claims about the invented relationship.

However, her love for the doctor will not simply cease, the Supreme Court also states in its decision: "If, for example, certain circumstances in the defendant's life change or if she has to return to hospital for health reasons, her love mania may break out again and she may then start harassing the plaintiff again ...".