Study finds most celebrity stalkers are mentally ill

William Atkins
Tuesday, 07 October 2008 19:23

Science - Health

An Australian-led study of people who stalk the British Royal family and European politicians found that, as a group, they have a very high percentage of psychotic illnesses.


The study was lead by Australian forensic psychiatrist Paul E. Mullen, formerly from Monash University (Melbourne, Victoria) and the Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health (Forensicare, in Fairfield, Victoria).

It involved the analysis of data (kept by the Metropolitan Police, Scotland Yard, London, England) on 8,000 people in over 20,000 separate incidences of stalking of the Royal family between the years 1988 and 2003.

According to the New Scientist article “VIP stalkers prone to serious mental illness” (subscription required), these stalkers are labeled as VIP (very important person) stalkers.

The act of stalking is defined as the obsessive actions of observing, following, and/or contacting, or trying to contact, another person.

Such actions include the obsessive behaviors of obtaining personal information about another person and attempting to find out what a person does on a daily basis.

When such actions involve the stalking of a celebrity, it becomes VIP stalking, also called star stalking or celebrity stalking.

In the United Kingdom, stalking is a criminal act according to the Protection from Harassment Act of 1997. If found guilty of harassment of another on two or more occasions, the crime is punishable by up to six months in prison.

The announcement of the report was made by Dr. Mullen on Tuesday, October 7, 2008, in Melbourne, Australia at the 19th International Symposium on the Forensic Sciences. The Australian and New Zealand Forensic Science Society sponsored the symposium (ANZFSS 2008).

Page two continues the story of Royal stalkings, and the conclusion of the study by Dr. Mullen.