Paraphilia

Paraphilia (in Greek para παρά = besides and -philia φιλία = love) - in psychology and sexology, is a term that describes a family of persistent, intense fantasies, urges, or behaviors involving sexual arousal to (1) nonhuman objects, (2) pain or humiliation experienced by oneself or one's partner, or (3) children or other nonconsenting individuals. Paraphilias may interfere with the capacity for reciprocal affectionate sexual activity. Paraphilia is also used to imply non-mainstream sexual practices without necessarily implying dysfunction or deviance. Also, it may describe sexual feelings toward otherwise non-sexual objects.

Definition
The word is used differently by different groups. As used in psychology or sexology, it is simply an umbrella term used to cover a wide variety of atypical sexual interests.

Clinical definition
A paraphilic interest is not normally considered clinically important by clinicians unless it is also causing suffering of some kind, or strongly inhibiting a "normal" sex life, according to the subjective standards of the culture and times.

Lay-public view
Many sexual activities now considered harmless or even beneficial (such as masturbation) have in the past been considered perversions or psychosexual disorders in various societies and how to regard these behaviors has been, and continues at times to be a controversial matter.

Usage of the term in English
The term "paraphilia" is rarely used in general English, as references to the actual interest are more common. Some may see the term as helping to aid objectivity when discussing taboo behaviors, or those meeting public disapproval, while others may interpret the term pejoratively—seeing paraphilias as "rare conditions or serious disorders" that require serious treatment.

Clinical warnings
It is worth noting typical clinical warnings given against improper assumptions about paraphilias: (Source: Psychiatric Times)
 * "Paraphilias are: sexual fantasies urges and behaviors that are considered deviant with respect to cultural norms..."
 * "Although several of these disorders can be associated with aggression or harm, others are neither inherently violent nor aggressive"
 * "The boundary for social as well as sexual deviance is largely determined by cultural and historical context. As such, sexual orientations once considered paraphilias (e.g., homosexuality) are now regarded as variants of normal sexuality; so too, sexual behaviors currently considered normal (e.g., masturbation) were once culturally proscribed"

Social norms
What is considered to be "perversion" or "deviation" varies from society to society. Some paraphilias fall into the kinds of activities often called 'sexual perversions' or 'sexual deviancy' with negative connotations, or 'kinky sex' with more positive connotations. Some specific paraphilias have been or are currently crimes in some jurisdictions. In some religions certain sexual interests are forbidden, leading some members of those religions to believe that all paraphilias must be sins. The field of psychology has attempted to characterize paraphilias in terms of their etiology and in terms of the ways they change the functioning of individuals in social situations. Some of these psycho-medical etiologies and descriptions have allowed some societies and religious/ethical traditions to view the paraphilias more positively. Some behaviors that might be classified as paraphilias by some subsets of society may be viewed as harmless eccentricities by other subsets of society, or entirely normal behavior within other societies.

Due to the somewhat subjective nature of their definition, the specific acts included under the umbrella of paraphilia vary from time to time and from place to place, and indeed from edition to edition of such works as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

History of the term
Although its coinage is often attributed to sexologist John Money, the term was coined by Croatian sexologist Friedrich Salomon Krauss during the 19th century, first popularized by Viennese psychotherapist Wilhelm Stekel (in his book Sexual Aberrations) in 1925, from the Greek para- (beside) + philos (loving), and first used in English in Stekel's translated works. It was not in widespread use until the 1950s, and was first used in the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM) in 1980. It was used by Sigmund Freud as well.

Clinical views of paraphilias
There is much debate about what (if anything) should constitute a paraphilia, and how these should be clinically classified (see Controversy, below).

Clinically recognized paraphilias
Clinical literature discusses eight major paraphilias individually. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the activity must be the sole means of sexual gratification for a period of six (6) months, and either cause "clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning" or involve a violation of consent to be diagnosed as a paraphilia.


 * Exhibitionism: the recurrent urge or behavior to expose one's genitals to an unsuspecting person.
 * Fetishism: the use of non-sexual or nonliving objects or part of a person's body to gain sexual excitement. Partialism refers to fetishes specifically involving nonsexual parts of the body.
 * Frotteurism: the recurrent urges or behavior of touching or rubbing against a nonconsenting person.
 * Pedophilia: the sexual attraction to prepubescent or peripubescent children.
 * Sexual Masochism: the recurrent urge or behavior of wanting to be humiliated, beaten, bound, or otherwise made to suffer.
 * Sexual Sadism: the recurrent urge or behavior involving acts in which the pain or humiliation of the victim is sexually exciting.
 * Transvestic fetishism: a sexual attraction towards the clothing of the opposite gender.
 * Voyeurism: the recurrent urge or behavior to observe an unsuspecting person who is naked, disrobing or engaging in sexual activities, or may not be sexual in nature at all.
 * Other rarer paraphilias are grouped together under Other paraphilias not otherwise specified (ICD-9-CM equivalent of "Sexual Disorder NOS") and include telephone scatalogia (obscene phone calls), necrophilia (corpses), partialism (exclusive focus on one part of the body), zoophilia (animals), coprophilia (feces), klismaphilia (enemas), urophilia (urine).

Homosexuality was previously listed as a paraphilia in the DSM-I and DSM-II. Consistent with the change in consensus among psychiatrists it was not included in later editions. A disorder of clinical distress caused by the repression of homosexuality is still listed. Literature also documents many other paraphilias, both common and rare.

Intensity and specificity
Clinicians distinguish between optional, preferred and exclusive paraphilias, though the terminology is not completely standardized. An "optional" paraphilia is an alternative route to sexual arousal. For example, a man with otherwise unremarkable sexual interests might sometimes seek or enhance sexual arousal by wearing women's underwear. In preferred paraphilias, a person prefers the paraphilia to conventional sexual activities, but also engages in conventional sexual activities. For example, a man might prefer to wear women's underwear during sexual activity, whenever possible. In exclusive paraphilias, a person is unable to become sexually aroused in the absence of the paraphilia.

Optional paraphilias are far more common than preferred paraphilias, which are, in turn, far more common than exclusive paraphilias.

Optional paraphilias sometimes disrupt stable relationships when discovered by an unsuspecting partner. Preferred paraphilias often disrupt otherwise stable relationships. Open communication and mutual support can minimize or prevent such disruption in both of these cases. Exclusive paraphilias often preclude normal courtship and committed romantic relationships, even when the person in question desires such a relationship. Loneliness or social isolation are common consequences. In extreme cases, preoccupation with a preferred or exclusive paraphilia completely displaces the more typical desire for loving human relationships.

Behavioral imprinting
Observation of paraphiliac behavior has provided valuable scientific information on the mechanisms of sexual attraction and desire, such as behavioral imprinting. Careful investigation has also led to the tentative conclusions that normal biological processes may sometimes be manifested in idiosyncratic ways in at least some of the paraphilias, and that these unusual manifestations are frequently associated with unusual (and especially traumatic) events associated with early sexual experience. They tend to be caused by classical conditioning in that a sexual stimulus has been paired with stimuli and situations that do not typically result in sexual response and has then been perpetuated through operant conditioning because the sexual response is its own reward or positive reinforcement.

Religious views
Some religious adherents view various paraphilias as deviations from their conception of God's original plan for human sexuality, or from their religious laws. Depending in part on the nature of the paraphilia in question, judgements can differ as to whether religiously it should be considered a case of sexual sin, mental illness, or simply harmless sexual variation. Another variable is whether it is the acting out, or (less commonly) just the desirous thought alone, which is critically viewed in such cases. In any event, several paraphilias, as with many "non-mainstream" behaviors, are viewed negatively (or with distaste) by various religions.

Some religious traditions include forms of extreme asceticism, such as whipping, which, when practiced as sexual activities, would usually be considered masochism and popularly viewed as paraphilias. When practiced for non-sexual reasons, they are usually valued by the religious groups concerned as a part of their religious observance and submission to God.

Legal views
As a general rule, the law in many countries often intervenes in paraphilias involving young or adolescent children below the legal age of consent, nonconsensual deliberate displays or illicit watching of sexual activity, harm to animals, acts involving dead people, harassment, nuisance, fear, injury, or assault of a sexual nature. Separately, it also usually regulates or controls censorship of pornographic material.

Exhibitionism, in cases where people who have not previously agreed to watch are exposed to sexual display, is also an offense in most jurisdictions, as is voyeurism when unarranged. (See indecent exposure and peeping tom)

Non-consensual sadomasochistic acts may legally constitute assault and therefore belong in the list below. Some jurisdictions criminalize some or all sadomasochistic acts, regardless of legal consent, and impose liability for any injuries caused. For these purposes, non-physical injuries are included in the definition of grievous bodily harm in English law. (See Consent (BDSM)), Operation Spanner)

The paraphilias listed below may carry a condition of illegality in some areas if acted out (though they may usually be legally role-played between consenting partners).
 * Biastophilia: sexual pleasure from committing rape‏‎
 * Exhibitionism and voyeurism, if lacking mutual agreement.
 * Frotteurism: sexual arousal through rubbing one's self against an unknowing stranger in public
 * Lust murder: sexual arousal through committing murder
 * Necrophilia: sexual attraction to corpses
 * Necrozoophilia: sexual attraction to the corpses or killings of animals (also known as necrobestiality)
 * Pedophilia: sexual attraction to peripubescent or pre-pubescent minors
 * Renfield's syndrome: clinical vampirism, or a compulsion to drink blood as a sexually-arousing act
 * Telephone scatologia: being sexually aroused by making obscene telephone calls
 * Zoophilia: emotional or sexual attraction to animals
 * Zoosadism: the sexual enjoyment of causing pain and suffering to animals.

Paraphilia in popular culture
In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, previously censored or stigmatized images of many paraphilias became more prevalent in the popular culture of Western countries.


 * Sadomasochism: In the independent 1974 Italian film The Night Porter, Charlotte Rampling wore a hat from a Nazi uniform in a sadomasochistic sex scene. At the time, the image was startling and new, but over the following years the use of Nazi-tinged iconography in a sexual context became mainstream, appearing first in mass-marketed pornography like Playboy and Penthouse, and finally becoming so tame that teen queen Britney Spears wore a similar outfit to a primetime awards show in 2003.


 * By 2006, sadomasochistic imagery had become mainstream enough for singer Justin Timberlake to have a hit song, SexyBack, with the lyric "You see these shackles baby, I'm your slave! / I'll let you whip me if I misbehave!"


 * Zoophilia: Sex with animals has been a theme in a number of popular comedies, including Bachelor Party, Clerks II, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. All these movies present the paraphilia as funny rather than erotic, as something ordinary young men are curious about but in the end find disgusting; in a minority of films and documentaries, the subject is given serious or thoughtful treatment. In all three movies the animal involved is an equine. In an episode of The Simpsons, Troy McClure acknowledges being sexually attracted to fish; his career had been damaged following an unspecified incident at an aquarium.

Controversy over the term
The definition of various sexual practices as paraphilias has been met with opposition. Advocates for changing these definitions stress that, aside from "paraphilias" with a criminal element, there is nothing inherently pathological about these practices; they are undeserving of the stigmatism associated with being "singled out" as such. Those who profess such a view hope that, much as with the removal of homosexuality from the DSM (see homosexuality and psychology), future psychiatric definitions will not include most of these practices.

Drug treatment of paraphilias
The treatment of men with paraphilias and related disorders has been challenging for patients and clinicians. In the past, surgical castration was advocated as a therapy for men with paraphilias, but it was abandoned because it is considered a cruel punishment and is now illegal in most countries. Psychotherapy, self-help groups, and pharmacotherapy (including the controversial hormone therapy sometimes referred to as "chemical castration") have all been used but are often unsuccessful. Here are some current drug treatments for these disorders.

Hormone drug treatments
In humans, testosterone has a crucial role not only in the development and maintenance of male sexual characteristics but also in the control of sexuality, aggression, cognition, emotion, and personality. Testosterone is a major determinant of sexual desire, fantasies, and behavior, and it increases the frequency, duration, and magnitude of spontaneous and nocturnal erections. The deviant sexual fantasies, urges, and behavior of men with paraphilias also appear to be triggered by testosterone. Therefore, reducing testosterone secretion or inhibiting its action is believed to control these symptoms.

Antiandrogenic drugs such as medroxyprogesterone (also known as the long-acting contraceptive Depo Provera) have been widely used as therapy in these men to reduce sex drive. However, their efficacy is limited and they have many unpleasant side effects, including breast growth, headaches, weight gain, and reduction in bone density. Even if compliance is good, only 60 to 80 percent of men benefit from this type of drug. Long-acting gonadotropin-releasing hormones, such as Triptorelin (Trelstar) which reduces the release of gonadotropin hormones, are also used. This drug is a synthetic hormone which may also lead to reduced sex drive.

Psychoactive drug treatments
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class of antidepressants such as fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), fluvoxamine (Luvox), and paroxitine (Paxil), have all been used to treat paraphilias and related disorders by reducing impulse control problems and/or sexual obsessions with some success. SSRIs work by selectively inhibiting presynaptic serotonin reuptake with minimal effect on levels of norepinephrine or dopamine.

Tricyclic antidepressants (TCA), such as imipramine (Tofranil) and desipramine (Norpramin), inhibit the reuptake of serotonin and noradrenaline, and can also modify the activity of glutamatergic neurons. This effect is caused by blocking the reuptake pumps in monoamine nerve synapses, extending the length of time neurotransmitters remain in the synapse and increasing their concentration. OCD responds preferentially to the TCA clomipramine (Anafranil), which is relatively selective for serotonin reuptake. Concern about these medications, however, persist as a result of their extensive side-effects, drug interactions, and toxicity when taken in excess.

Lithium, the mood-stabilizing drug also known as Eskalith is typically used for the treatment of mania in bipolar disorder. There are some reports of reduced sexual compulsive behavior and a reduction in obsessive sexual thoughts in patients, which they attribute to the drug's enhancement of serotonergic functioning.

Anxiolytics are not considered a typical treatment for these type of disorders, however the efficacy of buspirone (BuSpar) has been clinically demonstrated.

Psychostimulants have been used recently to augment the effects of serotonergic drugs in paraphiliacs. In theory, the prescription of a psychostimulant without pretreatment with an SSRI might further disinhibit sexual behavior, but when taken together, the psychostimulant may actually reduce impulsive tendencies. Methylphenidate (Ritalin) is a type of amphetamine used primarily to manage the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Recent studies imply that methylphenidate may also act on serotonergic systems; this may be important in explaining the paradoxical calming effect of stimulants on ADHD patients. Amphetamine is also used medically as an adjunct to antidepressants in refractory cases of depression.

(Source: BrainPhysics About Sexual Compulsions)

List of Paraphilias
The general sexual interests involving “objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals” are termed paraphilias, but when the interest causes an individual to harm another non-consenting person and/or causes significant psychosocial distress, the interest is referred to as a paraphilic disorder. The nomenclature for a specific paraphilia would then be altered to express the psychopathologic aspect (e.g., kleptophilia would be reclassified as kleptophilic disorder).

Select terms may also apply as the general fondness of the specified factor, as opposed to sexuoerotic arousal. However, as paraphilias, all items recorded here would be regarded as sexual interests.

The following is a list of paraphilias:


 * Abasiophilia: sexual attraction to people who have impaired mobility and/or who use leg braces or other orthopedic appliances
 * Acarophilia: sexual arousal from being scratched
 * Acnephilia: sexual attraction to pus, pimples, and/or acne
 * Acomophilia: sexual attraction to baldness
 * Acousticophilia: sexual arousal from certain sounds
 * Acrotomophilia: sexual attraction to amputees
 * Actirasty: sexual arousal from sunshine
 * Adolescentilism: sexual arousal from acting and being treated like an adolescent
 * Agonophilia: sexual arousal from hand-to-hand combat (including combat sports and martial arts) and associated paraphernalia
 * Ailurophilia: sexual attraction to cats
 * Agalmatophilia: sexual attraction to statues, mannequins, or other figurative objects
 * Algolagnia: sexual arousal from pain: active algolagnia being the infliction of pain on others, and passive algolagnia being the reception of pain
 * Altocalciphilia: sexual attraction to high-heeled shoes
 * Alvinolagnia: sexual attraction to the human abdomen
 * Alvinophilia: sexual attraction to the human navel
 * Amaurophilia: sexual arousal by a partner who is unable to see due to artificial means, such as being blindfolded or having sex in total darkness
 * Amokoscisia: sexual arousal from the mutilation of women
 * Ambiphilia: sexual preference for males/masculinity and females/feminity (more commonly used to describe sexual orientation, but can be regarded as a paraphilia when sexual objectification occurs)
 * Anasteemaphilia: sexual attraction to others who are taller or shorter than one’s self
 * Andromimetophilia: sexual preference for trans men, females who cross-dress, females with masculine traits, and/or other female-to-male instances (more commonly used to describe sexual orientation, but can be regarded as a paraphilia when sexual objectification occurs)
 * Androphilia: sexual preference for males and/or masculinity (more commonly used to describe sexual orientation, but can be regarded as a paraphilia when sexual objectification occurs)
 * Anesthesiophilia: sexual arousal from undergoing anesthesia via variable volatile substances
 * Anililagnia: sexual attraction to older women by a young man
 * Anophelorastia: sexual arousal from ravaging another individual
 * Antholagnia: sexual attraction to flowers
 * Anthropophagolagnia: sexual arousal from cannibalism preceded by rape
 * Apodysophilia: sexual arousal from being in the nude
 * Apotemnophilia: sexual arousal from having a healthy appendage amputated (or the fantasy thereof)
 * Aquaphilia: arousal from water and/or watery environments
 * Arachnephilia: sexual attraction to spiders
 * Aretifism: sexual attraction to people who are without footwear
 * Asphyxiophilia: sexual attraction to asphyxia
 * Attraction to disability: sexual attraction to disabled individuals
 * Autagonistophilia: sexual arousal from being observed or creating conditions for facilitating observation, commonly on camera or on stage
 * Autassassinophilia: sexual arousal from being in life-threatening situations and the risk of being killed (or the fantasy thereof)
 * Autoabasiophilia: sexual attraction to one’s self being in the state of having impaired mobility (or the fantasy thereof)
 * Autogynephilia: sexual attraction to the idea of one’s self as a female by a male
 * Auto-haemofetishism: sexual arousal from one’s own blood
 * Autonecrophilia: sexual arousal from the fantasy of being dead and having another copulate with the corpse
 * Autonepiophilia: sexual arousal from acting and being treated like an infant
 * Autopedophilia: sexual arousal from imagining one’s self as a prepubescent child
 * Autoplushophilia: sexual arousal from imagining one’s self as a stuffed toy or anthropomorphic animal
 * Autoscophilia: sexual arousal from one’s own body, especially the genitals
 * Autovampirism: sexual arousal from drinking one’s own blood
 * Autozoophilia: sexual arousal from imagining one’s self as an animal
 * Biastophilia: sexual arousal from committing rape (or the fantasy thereof)
 * Blennophilia: sexual attraction to slime
 * Brontophilia: sexual arousal from thunderstorms
 * Broviphilia: sexual attraction to eyebrows
 * Capnolagnia: sexual arousal from smoking
 * Catagelophilia: sexual arousal from being humiliated and/or ridiculed
 * Celebriphilia: pathological desire to have sex with a celebrity
 * Ceraunophilia: sexual attraction to lightning
 * Cheimaphilia: sexual arousal from the cold
 * Chezolagnia: sexual arousal from defecating
 * Chionophilia: sexual attraction to snow
 * Chremastistophilia: sexual arousal from being robbed, conned, cheated, and/or being held up
 * Chronophilia: sexual attraction to people of particular age ranges differing from one’s own
 * Claustrophilia: sexual arousal from enclosed spaces
 * Climacophilia: sexual arousal from falling down stairs
 * Clinical vampirism: sexual arousal from drinking blood
 * Coitobalnism: sexual arousal from copulating in a water-filled bathtub
 * Coprophilia: sexual attraction to feces
 * Coulrophilia: sexual attraction to clowns, mimes, jesters, and associated paraphernalia/locations
 * Cratolagnia: sexual attraction to muscles
 * Crush fetish: sexual arousal from objects, food, and/or animals (or one’s self) being crushed
 * Cynophilia: sexual attraction to dogs
 * Dacryphilia: sexual attraction to tears and/or sobbing
 * Dippoldism: sexual arousal from applying corporal punishment to minors
 * Defecaloesiophilia: sexual arousal from painful bowel movements
 * Delphinophilia: sexual attraction to dolphins
 * Dendrophilia: sexual attraction to trees
 * Dermatophilia: sexual attraction to chronic skin disorders
 * Dwarf or 'midget' fetishism: sexual attraction to little people
 * Electrophilia: sexual arousal from electric stimulus
 * Emetophilia: sexual attraction to vomit
 * Ephebophilia: sexual attraction to post-pubescent adolescents by adults
 * Epiplophilia: sexual attraction to furniture
 * Epistaxiophilia: sexual arousal from nosebleeds
 * Eproctophilia: sexual arousal from flatulence
 * Equinophilia: sexual attraction to horses
 * Erotophonophilia: sexual arousal from trying to commit murder
 * Erythrophilia: sexual attraction to the color red and/or blushing
 * Exhibitionism: sexual arousal from publicly exposing intimate body parts (such as genitalia, breasts, buttocks, etc.) to unsuspecting and nonconsenting people
 * Exophilia: sexual attraction to humanoids
 * Faunoiphilia: sexual arousal from watching animals mate
 * Febriphilia: sexual arousal from fevers
 * Sexual fetishism: sexual attraction to nonliving items/body parts
 * Formicophilia: sexual attraction to arthropods
 * Forniphilia: sexual arousal from incorporating a human body into furniture
 * Francophilia: sexual attraction to French history, culture, language, and/or people
 * Frottage: sexual arousal from non-penetrative sexual acts that consist of rubbing
 * Frotteurism: sexual arousal from rubbing against a nonconsenting individual
 * Galactophilia: (a.k.a lactophilia) sexual attraction to human milk or lactating women
 * Gastergastrizophilia: sexual arousal from witnessing or experiencing being struck in the abdomen
 * Geniophilia: sexual attraction to chins
 * Gerontilism: sexual arousal from acting and being treated like one of old age
 * Gerontophilia: sexual attraction to those of old age by children, preadolescents, adolescents, young adults, or middle-aged adults
 * Glossaphilia: sexual attraction to tongues
 * Gynandromorphophilia: sexual attraction to women who have penises (an intersex individual who identifies as a woman, a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual, a female who has undergone phalloplasty, etc.); sexual preference for intersex/androgynous people (more commonly used to describe sexual orientation, but can be regarded as a paraphilia when sexual objectification occurs)
 * Gynemimetophilia: sexual preference for trans women, males who cross-dress, males with feminine traits, and/or other male-to-female instances (more commonly used to describe sexual orientation, but can be regarded as a paraphilia when sexual objectification occurs)
 * Gynephilia: sexual preference for females and/or feminity (more commonly used to describe sexual orientation, but can be regarded as a paraphilia when sexual objectification occurs)
 * Gynophagia: sexual arousal from the anthropophagy of females
 * Gynotikolobomassophilia: sexual attraction to female earlobes
 * Harpaxophilia: sexual arousal from being the victim of a robbery or burglary; see also chrematistophilia
 * Hebephilia: sexual attraction to pubescent adolescents by older adolescents or adults
 * Hematolagnia: sexual attraction involving blood (either on another person or the liquid itself; not to be confused with haemophilia, a genetic disorder of the blood)
 * Hephephilia: sexual arousal from the theft of items specific to one’s sexual fetish
 * Herpetophilia: sexual attraction to reptiles
 * Hexakosioihexekontahexaphilia: sexual arounsal from the number of the beast
 * Hirsutophilia: sexual attraction to axillary hair
 * Homeovestism: sexual attraction towards the clothing of one's own gender
 * Hybristophilia: sexual arousal to people who have committed crimes, in particular cruel or outrageous crimes
 * Hypephilia: sexual attraction to fabrics
 * Hypoxyphilia: sexual arousal from being the recipient of asphyxia
 * Ichthyophilia: sexual attraction to fish
 * incestophilia: sexual attraction to one's own family
 * Infantophilia: sexual attraction to children less than the age of five by an older adolescent or adult
 * Inflatophilia: sexual attraction to inflatable objects and/or toys
 * Japanophilia: sexual attraction to Japanese history, culture, language, and/or people
 * Juvenilism: sexual arousal from acting and being treated like a minor
 * Katoptronophilia: sexual arousal from having sex in front of mirrors
 * Keraunophilia: sexual attraction to lightning
 * Kleptophilia: sexual arousal from theft
 * Klismaphilia: sexual arousal from enemas
 * Knismolagnia: sexual arousal from tickling
 * Liquidophilia: sexual arousal from submerging one’s genitals in liquid
 * Lithophilia: sexual attraction to gravel and/or stone
 * Lockiophilia: sexual arousal from childbirth
 * Macrophilia: sexual attraction to giants
 * Maiesiophilia: sexual attraction to pregnancy
 * Maschalagnia: sexual attraction to axillae
 * Mechanophilia: sexual attraction to machines
 * Menophilia: sexual attraction to menstrual blood
 * Mesophilia: sexual attraction to middle-aged adults by children, preadolescents, adolescents, or young adults
 * Metrophilia: sexual attraction to poetry
 * Microphilia: sexual attraction to unrealistically small people
 * Morphophilia: sexual attraction particular body shapes or sizes
 * Mucophilia: sexual arousal from sneezing and/or mucus
 * Musophilia: sexual attraction to mice
 * Mysophilia: sexual attraction to soiled, dirty, foul or decaying material
 * Narratophilia: sexual arousal in the use of dirty or obscene words to a partner
 * Nasophilia: sexual attraction to the human nose
 * Nebulophilia: sexual attraction to fog and/or smoke
 * Necrophilia: sexual attraction to corpses and copulating with them
 * Necrozoophilia: (a.k.a necrobestiality) sexual attraction to the corpses or killings of animals
 * Nepiophilia: (a.k.a. infantophilia) sexual attraction to children three years old or younger
 * Normophilia: sexual arousal by conformity, conservatism, and behaviors regarded as socially normal
 * Nyctophilia: sexual arousal from darkness
 * Objectophilia: sexual attraction to specific inanimate objects
 * Ochlophilia: sexual attraction to crowds and/or crowded locations
 * Odontophilia: sexual attraction to teeth
 * Olfactophilia: sexual arousal from body odor
 * Ombrophilia: sexual attraction to rain
 * Omosophilia: sexual attraction to the human shoulder
 * Ornithophilia: sexual attraction to birds
 * Osphresiolagnia: sexual arousal from certain odors
 * Parthenophagia: sexual arousal from the anthropophagy of young females or female virgins
 * Parthenophilia: sexual attraction to virgins
 * Partialism: sexual attraction to certain body parts (excluding genitalia)
 * Pecattiphilia: sexual arousal from sinning or guilt
 * Pediophilia: sexual attraction to dolls
 * Pedohebephilia: sexual attraction to prepubescent children and preadolescents by an older adolescent or adult
 * Pedophilia: sexual attraction to prepubescent children by an older adolescent or adult
 * Phalloorchoalgolagnia: sexual arousal from experiencing painful stimuli being administered to the male genitals
 * Pictophilia: sexual attraction to pictorial pornography or erotic art
 * Plushophilia: sexual attraction to stuffed toys or people in animal costume, such as theme park characters
 * Pluviophilia: sexual arousal from being rained upon
 * Podophilia: sexual attraction to feet
 * Pogonophilia: sexual attraction to beards
 * Porcinophilia: sexual attraction to pigs
 * Psellismophilia: sexual arousal from stuttering
 * Pyrophilia: sexual attraction to fire
 * Raptophilia: sexual arousal from being subject to rape (or the fantasy thereof)
 * Retifism: sexual attraction to shoes
 * Rhytiphilia: sexual attraction to facial wrinkles
 * Rupophilia: sexual attraction to dirt
 * Sadomasochism: sexual arousal from the infliction and reception of pain and/or humiliation
 * Salirophilia: sexual arousal from soiling or disheveling another individual’s clothing or possessions
 * Schediaphilia: sexual attraction to cartoon characters
 * Scopophilia: sexual arousal from visually observing erotic objects and situations
 * Sexual autophagy: sexual arousal from eating one’s self
 * Sexual masochism disorder: sexual arousal from the reception of pain and/or humiliation, and causes psychosocial distress
 * Sexual necrophagy: sexual arousal from the anthropophagy of corpses
 * Sexual sadism disorder: sexual arousal from the infliction of pain and/or humiliation upon an unwilling victim (which may or may not cause significant psychosocial distress)
 * Sitophilia: sexual attraction to food
 * Somnophilia: sexual attraction to sleeping or unconscious people
 * Spankophilia: sexual arousal from spanking
 * Spectrophilia: sexual attraction to ghosts
 * Sthenolagnia: sexual arousal from displaying muscles and/or strength
 * Strabismusophilia: sexual attraction to strabismus
 * Stigmatophilia: sexual focus on a partner who is tattooed or scarred
 * Stygiophilia: sexual arousal from the fantasy of damnation
 * Symphorophilia: sexual arousal from witnessing and/or stage-managing a disaster
 * Taphephilia: sexual arousal from premature burial
 * Teleiophilia: sexual attraction to adults by children, preadolescents, or adolescents
 * Telephone scatologia: being sexually aroused by making obscene telephone calls to strangers
 * Telephonicophilia: sexual arousal in explicit phone conversations
 * Teratophilia: sexual attraction to deformed or monstrous people
 * Timophilia: sexual attraction to gold and/or wealth
 * Tonitrophilia: sexual attraction to thunder
 * Toucherism: sexual arousal from groping or using the hands to grab or rub a nonconsenting person
 * Transformation fetish: sexual arousal from depictions of transformations of people into objects or other beings
 * Transvestic fetishism: sexual arousal from cross-dressing
 * Trichophilia: sexual attraction to hair
 * Troilism: sharing a sexual partner with another person while looking on
 * Urolagnia: sexual attraction to urine
 * Venatophilia: sexual attraction to video game characters
 * Vermiphilia: sexual attraction to worms
 * Vincilagnia: sexual arousal by bondage
 * Vomerophilia: (a.k.a. emetophilia) sexual attraction to the act of vomiting
 * Vorarephilia: sexual arousal from anthropophagy (or the fantasy thereof)
 * Voyeurism: sexual arousal from spying on an unwitting person or persons engaging in intimate behaviors
 * Xenophilia: sexual attraction to aliens and/or extraterrestrial life
 * Xylophilia: sexual attraction to wood
 * Xyrophilia: sexual attraction to razors
 * Zelophilia: sexual arousal from jealousy
 * Zoophilia: sexual attraction to animals
 * Zoosadism: sexual arousal from inflicting pain upon animals