Querulant
Encyclopedia
A querulant is a person who obsessive
ly feels wronged, particularly about minor causes of action. In particular the term is used for those who repeatedly petition
authorities or pursue legal actions based on manifestly unfounded grounds. These applications include in particular complaints about petty offenses.
Querulant behavior is to be distinguished from either the obsessive pursuit of justice regarding major injustices, or the proportionate, reasonable, pursuit of justice regarding minor grievances. According to Mullen and Lester, the life of the querulant individual becomes consumed by their personal pursuit of justice in relation to minor grievances.
In psychiatry
, the terms querulous paranoia (Kraepelin, 1904) and litigious paranoia have been used to describe a paranoid condition which manifested itself in querulant behavior. The terms had until recently largely disappeared from the psychiatric literature, largely because they fell out of fashion after being misused to stigmatise the behavior of people seeking the restitution of valid grievances. In the DSM-IV-TR, "querulous paranoia" is a subtype of the persecutory type of delusional disorder
. It also appears in ICD-10
using its Latin name under "Other persistent delusional disorders ".
Nevertheless, according to Lester et. al. querulous behavior remains common, as shown in petitions to the courts and complaints organizations. They state that "persistent complainants’ pursuit of vindication and retribution fits badly with complaints systems established to deliver reparation and compensation [and that] [t]hese complainants damaged the financial and social fabric of their own lives and
frightened those dealing with their claims."
Fixation (psychology)
Fixation: 'concept originated by Sigmund Freud to denote the persistence of anachronistic sexual traits'. Subsequently '"Fixation" acquired a broader connotation...
ly feels wronged, particularly about minor causes of action. In particular the term is used for those who repeatedly petition
Petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
authorities or pursue legal actions based on manifestly unfounded grounds. These applications include in particular complaints about petty offenses.
Querulant behavior is to be distinguished from either the obsessive pursuit of justice regarding major injustices, or the proportionate, reasonable, pursuit of justice regarding minor grievances. According to Mullen and Lester, the life of the querulant individual becomes consumed by their personal pursuit of justice in relation to minor grievances.
In psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
, the terms querulous paranoia (Kraepelin, 1904) and litigious paranoia have been used to describe a paranoid condition which manifested itself in querulant behavior. The terms had until recently largely disappeared from the psychiatric literature, largely because they fell out of fashion after being misused to stigmatise the behavior of people seeking the restitution of valid grievances. In the DSM-IV-TR, "querulous paranoia" is a subtype of the persecutory type of delusional disorder
Delusional disorder
Delusional disorder is an uncommon psychiatric condition in which patients present with circumscribed symptoms of non-bizarre delusions, but with the absence of prominent hallucinations and no thought disorder, mood disorder, or significant flattening of affect...
. It also appears in ICD-10
ICD-10
The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision is a medical classification list for the coding of diseases, signs and symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances, and external causes of injury or diseases, as maintained by the...
using its Latin name under "Other persistent delusional disorders ".
Nevertheless, according to Lester et. al. querulous behavior remains common, as shown in petitions to the courts and complaints organizations. They state that "persistent complainants’ pursuit of vindication and retribution fits badly with complaints systems established to deliver reparation and compensation [and that] [t]hese complainants damaged the financial and social fabric of their own lives and
frightened those dealing with their claims."