What Are the Causes of Paraphilia?

Paraphilia is a compulsive sexual condition that involves "atypical" sexual behavior. For the most part, it will be fetish-based in that both arousal and gratification is dependent on very specific objects, body parts and acts. This is different than having a sexual fetish, as many people can become aroused by different things like pornography, underwear, feet, bondage and spanking, to name a few. It is when this fetish becomes the only method in which the person can find arousal and gratification that it becomes paraphilia.

Types

• The condition of paraphilia consists of different types of compulsive sexual behaviors, varying in severity and intensity from person to person. However, just because someone finds pleasure from one of these things doesn't mean the individual suffers from the condition of paraphilia. It would need to be a compulsion for it to truly be paraphilia. For some people, paraphilia will be derived from fetishism, or the "fixation" on an object like shoes, underwear, feet, hair or anything not truly sexual in nature, to find arousal and gratification. For others, it is transvestitism, which is the "need" to cross-dress to become aroused and sexually gratified. It can also come from voyeurism and exhibitionism as well as sadomasochism. Though wrong and illegal in and of themselves, bestiality, necrophilia and pedophilia can become forms of paraphilia. Again, by just partaking in these activities doesn't make a person a true paraphile; it is when these things become the only means to achieve sexual gratification that it becomes paraphilia.

Origin

• The exact origin or cause of paraphilia and compulsive sexual behavior is currently unknown, according to the Mayo Clinic. Research within this field is still in its relative infancy, making it difficult to truly surmise or pinpoint an exact reason. However, there are a number of theories that have become somewhat popular, depending on the specialist you may ask.

Conditioning

• One of the theories behind paraphilia is that it can develop through what is often referred to as conditioning. If this theory is true, a person suffering from paraphilia would acquire the condition from repeated engagement in a sexual act with an object or scenario that for them brings about sexual arousal and gratification. As time goes by, the individual would develop a deeper and deeper need for that object or scenario until the only way to achieve sexual fulfillment is through that specific object or scenario.

Regression

• Other specialists theorize that paraphilia is actually based in regression, or that the person is reverting to a practice that started years ago. Much like conditioning, it is an acquired compulsion, but this act or scenario from which the individual can only achieve arousal and gratification is from "early in life," something from his distant past.

Predisposition

• Another theory concerning the cause paraphilia is best described as almost a predisposition to the condition. This means that the person is inclined to develop a particular sexual compulsion. For some people, it might be an inability to form "normal" interpersonal relationships that brings them to the compulsion. For others, it could be the chemical makeup of the brain that dictates sexual pleasure doesn't function as in someone without the condition. It may also be a form of addiction in that, once sexually exposed to the object or act, the brain essentially latches on to it and the person is compelled to engage in the practice more as time goes by, effectively altering the need to "use" the object or act.