Sexual Perversions
Paraphilia or sexual perversion refers to experience of sexual arousal characterized by recurrent and intense sexual fantasies, urges, and behaviors towards atypical objects, situations or individuals. These normally do not cause sexual arousal in majority in society. And since there is no clear cut borderline, this issue has always remained under debate and discussion. Once termed as psychiatric disorders, these are now termed by DSM as ‘distress’ to self or others.
Some of them are very common like exhibitionism and voyeurism. Others are rarely encountered. They are said to lead to personal, social and career problems and to extreme may even lead to offences.
These generally involve
- Non human objects
- The suffering of oneself or others
- Children
- Non consenting persons
- Conditions or situations
Cause
The causes of paraphilic sexual preferences are unclear. There are suggestions of developmental or neurochemical basis. Sexual abuse and excessive fantasizing can be associated factors. These are more common among males.
Treatment
Treatment options are
- Counseling
- Psychotherapy
- Hypnotherapy
- Self Help Group
- Homeopathy
- Conventional Medication
There are more than 500 types. Common one’s are
Exhibitionism or Flashing
Exhibitionism is characterized by sexual pleasure from exposure of the individual’s genitals to an unsuspecting stranger. The ‘shock’ is said to give the thrill. The person may masturbate while exposing but actual sexual contact with the victim is rare.
Fetishism
People with fetishes have sexual urges associated with non living objects. The object could be clothing such as underwear or shoes.
Partialism
It involves becoming sexually aroused by a body part, such as the feet, breasts, or buttocks.
Frotteurism
In this the sexual urges is related to touching or rubbing genitals against the body of a non consenting usually unfamiliar person. Commonly seen in crowded places like buses.
Pedophilia
Pedophilia involve illegal sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children (generally age 13 years or younger).
Sexual Masochism
Sexual fantasies, urges, or behaviors involving the act of being humiliated, beaten or to suffer to achieve sexual excitement and climax.
Sexual Sadism
Sexual excitement from inflicting psychological or physical suffering on a sexual partner.
Transvestitism
A practice by heterosexual males of dressing in female clothes to get sexual arousal.
Voyeurism
Sexual arousal by observing an unsuspecting, non consenting person who is undressing or engaged in sexual activity. This may be with or without masturbation.
Bondage or Vincilagnia
Sexual pleasure from being bound or restricted by a partner such as spanking or whipping.
BDSM
Combination of Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission and Sadomasochism.
Zoophilia or Bestiality
Sexualcontact between humans and animals.
Necrophilia
Sexually aroused by dead bodies
Coprophilia
Sexually aroused by fecal matter
Urophilia
Sexually aroused by urine
The list is getting longer:
| Paraphilia | Focus of erotic interest |
| Abasiophilia | People with impaired mobility |
| Acrotomophilia | People with amputations |
| Agalmatophilia | Statues, mannequins and immobility |
| Algolagnia | Pain, particularly involving an erogenous zone |
| Andromimetophilia | Trans men |
| Anililagnia | Attraction by young men to older women |
| Apotemnophilia | Being an amputee |
| Asphyxiophilia | Being asphyxiated or stranguled |
| Attraction to disability | People with one or more physical disabilities |
| Autagonistophilia | Being on stage or on camera |
| Autassassinophilia | Being in life-threatening situations |
| Autoandrophilia | A biological female imagining herself as a male |
| Autoerotic asphyxiation | Self-induced asphyxiation, sometimes to the point of near unconsciousness |
| Autogynephilia | A biological man imagining himself as a female |
| Autonepiophilia | The image of one’s self in the form of an infant |
| Autopedophilia | The image of one’s self in the form of a child. |
| Autoplushophilia | The image of one’s self in the form of a plush or anthropomorphized animal |
| Autovampirism | The image of one’s self in the form of a vampire |
| Autozoophilia | The image of one’s self in the form of an animal or anthropomorphized animal |
| Biastophilia | Rape of an unconsenting person; see also consensual rape fantasy |
| Chremastistophilia | Being robbed or held up |
| Chronophilia | Partners of a widely differing chronological age |
| Coprophilia | Feces; also known as scat, scatophilia or fecophilia |
| Dacryphilia | Tears or crying |
| Diaper fetishism | Diapers; considerable overlap with paraphilic infantilism |
| Dendrophilia | Trees |
| Emetophilia | Vomit |
| Erotic asphyxiation | Asphyxia of oneself or others |
| Erotophonophilia | Murder |
| Exhibitionism | Exposing one’s genitals to unsuspecting and nonconsenting others |
| Feederism | Erotic eating, feeding, and weight gain |
| Foot fetishism | Attraction to feet |
| Formicophilia | Being crawled on by insects |
| Forniphilia | Turning a human being into a piece of furniture |
| Frotteurism | Rubbing against a non-consenting person |
| Gerontophilia | Elderly people |
| Gynandromorphophilia | Transsexual or transgender women |
| Gynemimetophilia | Transsexual or transgender women |
| Heterophilia | Attraction to, fetishization, or sexualized idealization of heterosexuality and/or people who are “straight-acting,” especially by non-heterosexual people |
| Homeovestism | Wearing clothing emblematic of one’s own sex |
| Hybristophilia | Criminals, particularly for cruel or outrageous crimes |
| Infantophilia | Pedophilia with a focus on children five years old or younger, a recently suggested term that is not in general use |
| Kleptophilia | Stealing; also known as kleptolagnia |
| Klismaphilia | Enemas, either giving or having |
| Lactophilia | Breast milk |
| Liquidophilia | Immersing genitals in liquids |
| Macrophilia | Fascination with or a sexual fantasy involving giants. |
| Maschalagnia | Attraction to the armpits |
| Masochism | Suffering; being beaten, bound or otherwise humiliated |
| Mechanophilia | Cars or other machines; also “mechaphilia.” |
| Menophilia | Menstruation |
| Morphophilia | Particular body shapes or sizes |
| Mucophilia | Mucus |
| Mysophilia | Dirtiness, soiled or decaying things |
| Narratophilia | Obscene words |
| Nasophilia | Noses |
| Navel fetishism | Sexual attraction to navels – either their own or someone else’s. |
| Necrophilia | Corpses |
| Objectophilia | pronounced emotional desire towards specific inanimate objects |
| Oculolinctus | Licking the eyeballs |
| Oculophilia | A fetish of Being aroused by eyes and activities directly relating to and/or involving the eyes. |
| Olfactophilia | Smells |
| Paraphilic infantilism | Sexual arousal based on dressing or being treated like a baby, also known as autonepiophilia or “adult baby syndrome” |
| Partialism | Specific, non-genital body parts |
| Pedophilia | Prepubescent children, also spelled paedophilia; often confused with hebephilia, ephebophilia, and pederasty |
| Peodeiktophilia | Exposing one’s penis |
| Pedovestism | Dressing like a child |
| Pictophilia | Pornography or erotic art, particularly pictures |
| Piquerism | Sexual gratification through penetration of another person, most commonly by stabbing or cutting the body with sharp objects |
| Plushophilia | Sexual attraction to stuffed toy animals (Plushies) |
| Pygophilia | Buttocks |
| Pyrophilia | Fire |
| Raptophilia | Committing rape, possibly consensual rape fantasy |
| Sadism | Inflicting pain on others |
| Salirophilia | Soiling or dirtying others |
| Sexual fetishism | Nonliving objects |
| Somnophilia | Sleeping or unconscious people |
| Sthenolagnia | Muscles and displays of strength |
| Stigmatophilia | Body piercings and tattoos |
| Symphorophilia | Witnessing or staging disasters such as car accidents |
| Telephone scatologia | Obscene phone calls, particularly to strangers; also known as telephonicophilia |
| Teratophilia | Deformed or monstrous people |
| Toucherism | Touching an unsuspecting, non-consenting person with the hand |
| Transvestic fetishism | Wearing clothes associated with the opposite sex; also known as transvestism |
| Transvestophilia | A transvestite sexual partner |
| Trichophilia | Hair |
| Troilism | Cuckoldism, watching one’s partner have sex with someone else, possibly without the third party’s knowledge; also known as triolism |
| Urolagnia | Urination, particularly in public, on others, and/or being urinated on. Also referred to as “water sports” |
| Vampirism | Attraction to or involving blood |
| Vorarephilia | The idea of eating or being eaten by others; sometimes swallowed whole, in one piece |
| Voyeurism | Watching others while naked or having sex, generally without their knowledge; also known as scopophilia or scoptophilia |
| Zoophilia | Animals |
| Zoosadism | Inflicting pain on or seeing animals in pain |
