When is a Paraphilia not a Paraphilia??

When a Paraphilia Becomes a Disorder

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 Paraphilic disorders are characterized by recurrent, intense sexual fantasies, urges, or behaviors that are atypical in terms of their targets, context, or participants, and that cause significant distress or impairment in the individual's life. These urges and behaviors generally involve (Hooley et al., 2019) :

1. abnormal targets of sexual attraction such as objects or children\
2. unusual courtship behaviors such as watching someone undress without their consent or exposing themselves to others without consent.
3. the desire for pain and suffering of oneself or other people.

🟥Paraphilias challenge the authors of DSM editions for two main reasons (Hooley et al, 2019):

1. Some paraphilias are considered pathological even if the person experiencing the symptoms does not experience any distress.
2. Some other categories of paraphilia may be compatible with psychological health and happiness if all parties are of age and willfully consent.

The DSM-5 distinguishes between paraphilias and paraphilic disorders (Hooley et al. 2019).

🟥Paraphilias are defined as unusual sexual interests that cause no harm to either person or others.

🟥Paraphilic disorders - are defined when paraphilias cause suffering to anyone involved.

• Although mild forms of these conditions occur in many people's lives, a person with the disorder is distinguished by the intensity and the exclusivity with which their sexuality focuses on the acts or objects in question (Hooley, et al. 2019).  For instance, in some cases, orgasm is not attainable without these acts or objects.
• These disorders can also be compulsive requiring someone to orgasm as often as four to ten times per day.
• Most people with paraphilic disorders are male.

 The DSM-5 recognizes eight specific paraphilic disorders that can be classified into several different subtypes (Hooley, et al. 2019): 

1. Voyeuristic
2. Exhibitionistic
3. Frotteuristic
4. Sexual sadism
5. Sexual Masochism
6. fetishistic
7. transvestic 
8. pedophilic

There is also another specified paraphilic disorder which includes several rare disorders (Hooley et al. 2019):

• Scatologia - obscene phone calls
• Necrophilia - the sexual desire for corpses
• Zoophilia - sexual interest in animals
• Apotemnophilia - sexual excitement and desire about having a limb amputated
• Coprophilia - sexual arousal to feces

References

Hooley, J. M., Nock, M. K., & Butcher, J. N. (2019). Abnormal Psychology (18th ed.). Pearson Education (US). https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9780135191033