%0 Journal Article
%T Stalking of Healthcare Professionals by Their Clients: The Prevalence, Motivation, and Effect
%A Sefa Bulut
%A Ali Cissy Usman
%A Thseen Nazir
%J Open Journal of Medical Psychology
%P 27-35
%@ 2165-9389
%D 2021
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/ojmp.2021.102003
%X It is proposed that healthcare professionals are prone to be stalked by
their patients, but many feel ashamed to talk about it, believing that they
might have done something to warrant the stalking. We undertook a rigorous
review of the literature with the primitive goal of highlighting noteworthy
issues on the stalking of healthcare professionals and psychologists by their
patients. Databases such as PubMed and Google Scholar were searched to collate
articles and studies on the topic with the keywords ˇ°stalker, stalking,
assaults, aggression, and physiciansˇ±. From the review, the prevalence rate of
stalking healthcare professionals ranged between 6% - 53%.
This huge variation was largely due to the inconsistencies in the definition of
what constituted stalking. The common motives of stalkers were largely due to
erotomania or misguided expectation and a sense of resentment due to service
dissatisfaction. Finally, it was apparently right to conclude that, medical
doctors or healthcare professionals are at risk of being stalked on the grounds
of service dissatisfaction, and mismanagement of treatment processes resulting
in physical or perceived client injuries. Whereas psychologists and other
psychiatrists are more prone to be stalked due to erotomaniac reasons.
%K Stalking
%K Erotomania
%K Misguided Expectation
%K Resentment
%K Healthcare Professionals
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=108256