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Psychology and Mental Health Dictionary Definitions - Paraphilia - Psychforums.com





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Paraphilia


Paraphilia (in Greek para παρά = besides and -philia φιλία = love) is a biomedical term used to describe sexual arousal to objects or situations that are not part of normative stimulation and that can cause distress or serious problems for the paraphiliac or persons associated with him or her. The term was coined by Wilhelm Stekel in the 1920s and popularized by John Money in the 1960s, who described paraphilia as "a sexuoerotic embellishment of, or alternative to the official, ideological norm."

Psychologists and psychiatrists codified paraphilias as disorders, as a replacement for the legal constructs of sodomy and perversion. They previously listed homosexuality as a paraphilia in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-I and DSM-II), but they removed it in the 1980 version of the DSM-III. That edition describes paraphilia as "recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors generally involving:

1) nonhuman objects, or
2) the suffering or humiliation of oneself or one´s partner, or
3) children or other nonconsenting persons."

Sexual arousal in association with objects that were designed for sexual purposes is not DSM diagnosable (DSM, p. 570). Some people diagnosed with paraphilias undergo voluntary or involuntary intervention to alter their behavior.

The view of paraphilias as disorders is not universal. Groups seeking greater understanding and acceptance of sexual diversity have lobbied for changes to the legal and medical status of unusual sexual interests and practices. Charles Allen Moser, a physician and advocate for sexual minorities, has argued that the diagnoses should be eliminated from diagnostic manuals. Psychiatrist Glen Gabbard writes that despite efforts by Stekel and Money, "the term paraphilia remains pejorative in most circumstances."

Read and post in our Paraphilia forum.

Source : Wikipedia.org


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