Sadism is an abnormal state of a person who takes pleasure in seeing other people suffer. Such a person is called a sadist. A sadist can get satisfaction in two ways: when he makes other people suffer or simply when he watches others suffer. Sadism is a quality that is associated with a pathological form of pleasure. Because pleasure comes only through the suffering of others.
The first mentions of sadism
In the middle of the 18th century, a certain writer-philosopher Donatien Alphonse Francois de Sade (today he is better known as the Marquis de Sade) lived in France. So, the meaning of his life was to promote absolute freedom. The Marquis was confident that a person should not limit himself to moral, ethical or religious taboos. Moreover, the writer’s works stated that causing pain during sexual intercourse is a completely normal phenomenon. After all, only in this way could a person’s personality fully reveal itself, so to speak, throw off all masks.
A little later, the work of the Marquis de Sade was carefully studied by the father of sexology, Richard von Krafft-Ebing. Based on the information received, the psychologist developed a new type of personality that wants to revel in the suffering of other people. And the phenomenon of this mental disorder itself received a specific name - sadism (in honor of the would-be philosopher Marquis de Sade).
Causes of mental disorder
Like most psychological disorders, the root of sadism begins in early childhood. Children living in an atmosphere of aggressive relationships consider this model of behavior to be correct, and subsequently carry it into adulthood.
But along with a child’s psychological problem, sadism can arise for the following reasons:
- Mental illness and trauma;
- All kinds of phobias and fears (for example, being unappreciated and unimportant in society);
- Features of character, temperament and psyche;
- Sexual characteristics and fantasies.
Signs of a sadist
Even a person far from psychology intuitively understands how to recognize a sadist. Clear signs of aggressive and violent activity include:
Psychological pressure. Aggressors are constantly trying to humiliate and suppress the will of their victim, touch her to the quick, insult her, ruin her mood, and so on. A moral sadist constantly seeks to destroy the plans and hopes of his victim, play on her feelings and create “nervous shocks.” A distinctive feature of such people is pronounced vindictiveness.
Sexual violence. A person regularly seeks to persuade a partner to have intimacy without his desire. Uses forms of behavior that are unacceptable and unacceptable to others in bed, causing physical and mental pain to the victim.
Physical bullying and bodily harm to another living being for the purpose of one’s own satisfaction and self-affirmation, a feeling of one’s own limitless power.
Psychological portrait of a typical gerontophile
This is an infantile boy or girl, from an incomplete or dysfunctional family, withdrawn, unsure of himself, unadapted to life, unable to overcome difficulties.
As a child, he falls in love with educators, as he grows up - with teachers, teachers of secondary and higher educational institutions, and elderly bosses.
Another option is a sadist, who tortures animals at a young age, then offends weak peers, and takes pleasure in suppressing the will of his sexual partner. Or is he a masochist looking for someone who could humiliate him. As a child, he asks for punishment for the smallest offense; he likes to inflict cuts or burns on himself. Pain is his fetish, as is moral suffering. Having contacted an old, infirm partner, he takes pleasure, considering it his punishment.
Gerontophiles communicate very little with peers the same age or even avoid meeting with them. When trying to improve a relationship with a peer, they don’t go as far as having sexual intercourse, but if sex has happened, then there won’t be a second one.
Such people are friends with those who are much older than them - they like it, it calms them down, since they can live off the great life experience of such comrades.
They can break up with a mature partner, but only because they liked someone else, but also far from young.
Signs of inclination
Signs of sadistic tendencies can manifest themselves as:
- dislike of animals
- the desire to conduct experiments with living organisms that are life-threatening,
- disrespectful or offensive behavior with members of the opposite sex (selected victims, not all),
- painful play on the feelings of another person,
- deliberate destruction of other people's plans and hopes,
- unmotivated vindictiveness,
- contempt for some people
- desire to dominate someone
- slander, deception of another person in order to cause trouble
- and many other actions that others may mistakenly regard as bad character traits rather than a mental disorder. Information belongs to the site _rew-med_
Life example
A lot of lively discussed articles have been written about the couple Michael and Majori, who are almost 60 years older than the young man.
A man old enough to be a woman’s grandchild speaks of his lifelong friend in superlatives, admiring every wrinkle. They rarely leave the house, preferring to enjoy each other in bed. At the same time, Michael periodically cheats on Majorie with several of her peers, without hiding it. However, the woman has already come to terms with this state of affairs and turns a blind eye to it.
Michael is a 100% gerontophile, who is satisfied with everything, he is quite happy and does not want to change anything. But, unfortunately, this does not happen to all lovers of mature people.
Types and symptoms of sadism
Today there are no uniform diagnostic criteria for sadism, and such a diagnosis does not officially exist either in the ICD-10 or in other classifications of diseases.
So, we can conditionally divide this phenomenon into two large groups:
- sexual or extreme sadism - a classic interpretation of sadism associated with inflicting pain and suffering in order to obtain sexual pleasure; causing pain.
- non-sexual - a phenomenon of sadism associated more with humiliation, pressure and the infliction of suffering as an end in itself, but without connection to sexual arousal.
Taking into account the objects of influence, we can identify an immense group of forms of sadism, but we will be interested only in “popular” forms of pathology:
- psychological sadism;
- necrocadism;
- Zoocadism.
Is sadomasochism normal?i
Sadomasochism can be viewed as a type of sexual play, preference, or identity in which a person derives satisfaction from pain, causing pain, or both. Sadomasochism is part of a larger category of sexual practices and lifestyles called BDSM.
Sadomasochism can be difficult for people to understand and may seem scary to some. For people who prefer a more vanilla, no-kink sex life, it may seem strange that there are people who want to be beaten, chained to a cross, or tortured. Equally troubling may be the idea of yourself as someone who likes to do these things to others. For many people, practices associated with sadomasochism can cause strong reactions, one of which is usually: “This is dangerous!”
At the end of 2021, the Journal of Sexual Medicine published an article “What is an unusual sexual fantasy?” More than 1,500 women and men rated their interest in 55 sexual fantasies, ranging from sex in public to tying up a sexual partner. At the top of the list were fantasies about oral sex, sex in romantic or unusual places, and sex with someone other than a spouse.
But not much lower were fantasies about sexual submission (present in 65% of women and 53% of men), dominating someone sexually (47% of women, 60% of men) and tying up for sexual pleasure (52% of women, 46% of men). .
These results will not surprise anyone after the remarkable sales of 50 shades. Whatever one might say about the dubious quality of these books and films, they began a conversation about the themes of bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism that permeate many people's sexuality.
Kinky sex is defined not by what it is, but by what it isn't, and unfortunately, this means others have the wrong idea about couples who follow this lifestyle. BDSM is not only a gateway for sexual experimentation that avoids “vanilla” sex; it can also lead to physical and mental health benefits.
Here are a few reasons why it might be time to move away from vanilla sex:
Is sadism not a disease? Psychology of sadism
Sadistic personality disorder is not included in international classifications of diseases because in the 1980s they wanted to ban its existence as a separate disease.
In most cases, the disorder was reported to overlap with other psychiatric diagnoses. Sadism often manifests itself in people who have other mental disorders.
Treatment of sexual sadism
Sadism therapy is aimed at resolving the internal conflict that caused the connection between aggression and sexual arousal, and at relieving symptoms that can cause harm to other people. Treatment is carried out on a voluntary or compulsory basis in inpatient and outpatient settings. An integrated approach includes the following methods:
- Individual psychotherapy. Psychoanalysis and cognitive-behavioral methods are used.
- Medication correction. Sadists are prescribed medications that weaken sexual desire, stop aggressiveness and instability of behavior, and outbursts of anger.
- Rehabilitation. At the final stage, activities are carried out to promote the patient’s social adaptation. Information belongs to the site _rew-med_
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Treatment12
Behavioral therapy is often used to treat paraphilias. This treatment approach may involve managing and conditioning patterns of arousal and masturbation. Therapy involving cognitive restructuring and social skills training is also often used.
Medication may be used to reduce fantasies and behaviors associated with paraphilias. This form of treatment is especially recommended for people who exhibit sadistic behavior that is dangerous to others. Medications that may be used include female hormones (most often medroxyprogesterone acetate, or MPA), which speed up the removal of testosterone from the bloodstream; antiandrogen drugs, which block the body's absorption of testosterone; and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
Mindless, sadistic behavior often leads to problems with the criminal justice system. Legal issues may impair or delay a patient's treatment. Individuals with sexual sadism may be reluctant to seek treatment or continue treatment because they fear that their behavior will be reported to the police or that they will be named in a lawsuit by an unwitting partner.
Treatment of sexual sadism may also be complicated by health problems related to sexual behavior. Sexually transmitted diseases and other medical problems may be present, especially when sadistic behavior involves the discharge of blood or other body fluids.
