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Sexual sadism

Sexual sadism

What is sexual sadism?

Sexual sadism is a paraphilia. According to the DSM 5, there is sexual sadism disorder, when there have been "over a period of at least 6 months, recurrent and intense sexual arousal from the physical or psychological suffering of another person, as manifested by fantasies, urges, or behaviors." "The individual has acted on these sexual urges with a nonconsenting person, or the sexual urges or fantasies cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning."

Extreme sadistic behavior

Some people with sexual sadism disorder manage to find partners who accept to participate in sadistic activities. For others, sexual arousal comes from the fact that the person they make suffer is nonconsenting. In this case, sadistic activities can include sexual abuse, rape, torture or even murder.

List of paraphilic disorders

Here is a non-exhaustive list of paraphilic disorders: fetishism, transvestism, sadism, masochism, zoophilia, voyeurism, exhibitionism, frotteurism, pedophilia, necrophilia, urophilia.