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Sexual Masochism - Sexual Masochism Symptom, Cause, Treatment
While the fantasy of such things is not unusual, it is the acting upon these fantasies that can run the risk of true peril. Over a period of at least 6 months, recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving the act (real, not simulated) of being humiliated, beaten, bound, or otherwise made to suffer. Sexual Masochism involves the act of being humiliated, bound, beaten and otherwise made to physically suffer for purposes of sexual stimulation. The characteristics of Sexual Masochism are as follows:
- Repeatedly for at least 6 months, the patient has intense sexual desires, fantasies or behaviors concerning real acts of being beaten, bound, humiliated or otherwise made to suffer.
- This causes clinically important distress or impairs work, social or personal functioning.
Symptoms of Sexual Masochism
Sexually masochistic behaviors are typically evident by early adulthood, and often start with masochistic or sadistic play in childhood. These patterns of behavior are not only disruptive to social and occupational functioning, but they run the risk of threat to physical safety. The fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. The disorder is characterized by either intense sexually arousing fantasies, urges, or behaviors in which the individual is humiliated, beaten, bound, or made to suffer in some way.
Causes of Sexual Masochism
There are different theories related to sexual masochism, many stemming from the psychoanalytic camp. Although the actual cause of the paraphilia is unclear it may be caused by the association of pleasant responses to a particular stimulus which one would not regard as pleasant. Most paraphilic fantasies begin in late childhood or adolescence and continue throughout adult life. Intensity and occurrence of the fantasies are variable, and they usually decrease as people get older.
Treatment of Sexual Masochism
Treatment typically involves psychotherapy aimed at uncovering and working through the underlying cause of the behavior. The accepted forms of treatment involve psychological therapy and in some cases drug therapy. Restructuring cognitive distortions involves correcting erroneous beliefs by the patient which may lead to errors in behavior such as seeing a victim and constructing erroneous logic that the victim deserves to be party to the deviant act.
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