We all fixate. Normal fixations direct how we spend our waking moments, they move us toward the things we value in our everyday lives.
We give them expression in romantic love, parental and filial affection, our work or pastimes, our loyalties and affiliations. But some people, in the context of a quest, cause or grudge, can develop abnormally intense fixations which they pursue to an irrational degree.
For the pathologically fixated, thoughts about the object on which they fix can occupy most waking moments, dwelling on information gathering, communicating with the focus of their attention, often profusely, and making efforts to achieve physical proximity to that person or place.
Whether as an individual employee, a business leader, family office, or prominent figure in media or entertainment, such behaviour can be distressing and disruptive to experience. It can emerge in a variety of contexts, but a few predominate in the private sphere.
Relationship seeking is the source of intrusion that is most frequently referred to Theseus by companies representing prominent individuals in the talent management industry. This can present in communications as repeated (often inept) attempts to establish or propose a special or intimate relationship, or more strident sexualised demands, asserting rights to a relationship believed already to exist.
Desire for fame and following are also powerful motivations for intrusion in this sector. Some ‘super fans’ assert entitlement to a close relationship, citing number of events attended, fan-page following enlisted, self-appointed online ‘gate keeper’ status, or subliminal affinity as justification for public recognition by the recipient.
This amity seeking can evolve into the making or spreading of online reputational threats when that recognition is not forthcoming, or when challenged by others vying for the same recognition.
Similarly disruptive behaviour can emerge from those seeking help from talent, whether requests for public endorsement or more direct assistance, often citing ‘lack of a break’ or lack of foresight on the part of others as the cause of yet unrealised ambitions. Such cases can appear less directly worrying at first, but can also escalate from persistent intrusive requests, to demands and expressions of intent to turn up, sometimes fuelled by anger that the requested help has not been forthcoming.
For companies outside talent management, particularly brands in the financial services, tech, utility and retail sectors, for which the management of complaint is part of core business, the problematic expression of grievance is by far the most frequent reason for referrals to Theseus.
Unlike the pursuit of unrealistic or fantasised relationships, there tends to be a kernel of truth at the root of burning resentment: a loan was recalled or a repayment missed; an agreement was breached or service levels not met, for example. The point at which legitimate avenues for restitution are exhausted, is the point at which such cases can evolve, initially into unreasonable and protracted demands for apologies and vindication, and then to expanding and evermore public quests for idiosyncratic forms of ‘justice’.
Persistence, intensity, extremes of anger and the making of threats, including clear threats of physical violence and expressions of intent to approach, are common features of such cases, which can be disruptive and distressing for employees to have to manage.
Such behaviour can emerge among employees too, with being overlooked for a sought after role, disputes with colleagues, or promises perceived as not having been kept being common catalysts. More frequently, the point at which employer and employee part company can catalyse persistent unwanted intrusion and the making of reputational threats.
The breakdown of intimate relationships formed in the workplace is a not uncommon cause of referrals to Theseus. And not just intimate relationships. The sense of rejection or resentment that can accompany breakdowns in longstanding contractor, supplier or business partner relationships can also fuel protracted intrusion and the making of legal or reputational threats.
Fixation has become a term more used in risk management parlance in recent years. Recognising that a state of mind might be driving a course of intrusion and threat is not a reason to think that the associated risks cannot therefore be managed.
On the contrary. The incorporation of forensic psychiatric expertise into case formulation permits a much more refined view of risks and the means by which they can be reduced or mitigated entirely.
