Hero syndrome

Hero syndrome, also called the hero complex, is a psychological pattern in which a person seeks recognition for heroism, sometimes by creating or exaggerating a harmful situation that they can then resolve or rescue others from, in order to be praised as valiant or selfless. It is not officially recognized as a syndrome by the American Academy of Psychiatry because it does not meet the formal definition of one, though it is understood as a psychological complex, a set of impulses sharing a common emotional tone that exerts a strong, largely unconscious influence on behavior. Documented examples include firefighters who set fires so they can be seen extinguishing them. The term traces to Los Angeles police officer Jimmy Wade Pearson, hailed as a hero in 1984 for finding a bomb on the Turkish Olympic team's bus, then arrested the next day after it emerged he had planted it himself.