Paraphilia is a medical or behavioral science term for what is also referred to as: sexual deviation, sexual anomaly, sexual perversion or a disorder of sexual preference. It is the repeated, intense sexual arousal to unconventional (socially deviant) stimuli. Richard Von Krafft-Ebing, a German psychiatrist credited with formally introducing the study of Sexology as a psychiatric phenomenon, identified paraphilias first in his 1886 Psychopathia Sexualis (Sexual Psychopathy). This highly influential psychiatric text laid the groundwork for the development of research and treatment in this area that has taken place over the last century. Paraphilias are currently recognized as one of the categories of Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders in the DSM-IV-TR List of Paraphilias:
- Abasiophilia: love of (or sexual attraction to) people who use leg braces or other orthopaedic appliances.
- Acousticophilia: sexual arousal from certain sounds.
- Acrotomophilia: love of (or sexual attraction to) amputees.
- Agalmatophilia: sexual attraction to statues or mannequins or immobility.
- Algolagnia: sexual pleasure from pain.
- Amaurophilia: sexual arousal by a partner whom one is unable to see due to artificial means, such as being blindfolded or having sex in total darkness. (See: sensory deprivation)
- Andromimetophilia: love of women dressed as men.
- Apodysophilia: desire to undress, see also nudism.
- Apotemnophilia: desire to have (or sexual arousal from having) a healthy appendage (limb, digit, or male genitals) amputated.
- Aquaphilia: arousal from water and/or in watery environments, including bathtubs or swimming pools.
- Aretifism: sexual attraction to people who are without footwear, in contrast to retifism.
- Asphyxiophilia: sexual attraction to asphyxia; also called breath control play; including autoerotic asphyxiation; see medical warnings.
- Autogynephilia: love of oneself as a woman (also see Blanchard, Bailey, and Lawrence theory for discussion on controversy).
- Biastophilia: sexual pleasure from committing rape.
- Celebriphilia: pathological desire to have sex with a celebrity.
- Coprophilia: sexual attraction to (or pleasure from) feces.
- Crush fetish: sexual arousal from seeing small creatures being crushed by members of the opposite sex, or being crushed oneself.
- Dacryphilia: sexual pleasure in eliciting tears from others or oneself.
- Dendrophilia: sexual attraction to trees and other large plants, popularized by the movie “Superstar” with Molly Shannon.
- Diaper fetishism: sexual arousal from diapers.
- Emetophilia (a.k.a. vomerophilia): sexual attraction to vomit.
- Ephebophilia (a.k.a. hebephilia): sexual attraction towards adolescents.
- Eproctophilia: sexual attraction to flatulence.
- Exhibitionism: sexual arousal through sexual behavior in view of third parties (also includes the recurrent urge or behavior to expose one’s genitals to an unsuspecting person, known as indecent exposure).
- Faunoiphilia: sexual arousal from watching animals mate.
- Fetishism: is the use of non-sexual or nonliving objects or part of a person’s body to gain sexual excitement. Examples include:
Balloon fetishism — breast fetishism — foot fetishism (podophilia) — fur fetishism — leather fetishism — lipstick fetishism — medical fetishism — panty fetishism — robot fetishism — rubber fetishism — shoe fetishism — smoking fetishism — spandex fetishism — dental braces fetishism — transvestic fetishism.
- Frotteurism: sexual arousal from the recurrent urge or behavior of touching or rubbing against a nonconsenting person.
- Galactophilia: sexual attraction to human milk or lactating women (incorrect term).
- Gerontophilia: sexual attraction towards the elderly.
- Haematophilia: sexual attraction involving blood (either on a sex partner/attractive person or the liquid itself; not to be confused with haemophilia, a genetic disorder of the blood).
- Harpaxophilia: sexual arousal from being the victim of a robbery or burglary.
- Hematolagnia: sexual attraction to blood.
- Hybristophilia: sexual arousal to people who have committed crimes, in particular cruel or outrageous crimes.
- Infantilism: sexual pleasure from dressing, acting, or being treated as a baby.
- Katoptronophilia: sexual arousal from having sex in front of mirrors.
- Klismaphilia: sexual pleasure from enemas.
- Lust murder: sexual arousal through committing murder.
- Macrophilia: sexual attraction to larger people and large things (including larger body organs such as breasts and genitalia).
- Maiesiophilia: sexual attraction to childbirth or pregnant women.
- Masochism: is the recurrent urge or behavior of wanting to be humiliated, beaten, bound, or otherwise made to suffer.
- Microphilia: sexual attraction to smaller people and things of smaller size.
- Mysophilia: sexual attraction to soiled, dirty, foul or decaying material.
- Necrophilia: sexual attraction to corpses.
- Necrozoophilia: sexual attraction to the corpses or killings of animals (also known as necrobestiality).
- Nepiophilia: the same as infantophilia sexual attraction to children between the age of 0 - 3 yrs.
- Pedophilia: sexual attraction to prepubescent children (British spelling: paedophilia).
- Phalloorchoalgolagnia: sexual arousal by the experiencing of painful stimuli being administered to the male genitals.
- Pictophilia: sexual attraction to pictorial pornography/erotic art.
- Plushophilia: sexual attraction to stuffed toys or people in animal costume, such as theme park characters.
- Pyrophilia: sexual arousal through watching, setting, hearing/talking/fantasizing about fire.
- Retifism: sexual arousal from shoes.
- Sadism: sexual arousal from giving pain.
- Schediaphilia (aka Toonophilia): love (or sexual arousal) to cartoon characters/situations.
- Sitophilia: sexual arousal from food.
- Somnophilia: sexual arousal from sleeping or unconscious people.
- Spectrophilia: sexual attraction to ghosts.
- Telephone scatologia: being sexually aroused by making obscene telephone calls.
- Teratophilia: sexual attraction to deformed or monstrous people.
- Transformation fetish: sexual arousal from depictions of transformations of people into objects or other beings.
- Transvestic fetishism: is a sexual attraction towards the clothing of the opposite gender (also known as transvestitism)
- Trichophilia: love (or sexual arousal) from hair.
- Urolagnia: sexual attraction to urine.
- Vorarephilia: sexual attraction to being eaten by, and/or eating, another person or creature.
- Voyeurism: sexual arousal through watching others having sex (also includes the recurrent urge or behavior to observe an unsuspecting person who is naked, disrobing or engaging in sexual activities, see peeping tom).
- Xenophilia: sexual attraction to foreigners (in science fiction, can also mean sexual attraction to aliens).
- Zoophilia: emotional or sexual attraction to animals.
- Zoosadism: the sexual enjoyment of causing pain and suffering to animals.
-Note: Sadism and masochism are often grouped together, under sadomasochism, or (as a lifestyle interest).