Algolagnia
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Algolagnia (IPA pronunciation: æl gəˈlægniə) (from the Greek άλγος, algos, "pain", and λαγνεία, lagnia, "lust") is a sexual disorder which is defined by deriving sexual pleasure and stimulation from physical pain, particularly involving an erogenous zone.[1]
Most current research suggests it has a fully biological basis, as it is proven that pain, just like sensorial pleasures such as sexual contact and sweet foods, causes the release of endorphins, the chemicals that induce pleasure. Furthermore, studies conducted indicate differences in how the brains of those with algolagnia interpret nerve input.[1]
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[edit] History of Research
Havelock Ellis was one of the first researchers to look into algolagnia, in the early 1900's.[2] With such titles as Analysis of the Sexual Impulse, Love and Pain, The Sexual Impulse in Women and The Evolution of Modesty, The Phenomena of Sexual Periodicity, Auto-Erotism, he did discover the basics of the disorder. Eugen Kahn, Smith Ely Jelliffe, William Alanson White, and Hugh Northcote were other early psychological researchers into algolagnia.
Most early research placed algolagnia in the same category as masochistic tendencies, and other "deviancy of sexuality", but William Alanson White believed that algolagnia was primarily a motor function or nerve disease.
[edit] Current Research
Currently, most psychological researchers feel that algolagnia is a physical phenomenon that produces psychological effects. [3] In particular, the research conducted by Dolf Zillmann indicated that:
...most algolagniacs see their actions as an active lust, not a motivational one. Patients with algolagnia could lead normal lives, enjoy normal arousal sequences, and indulge in fairly normal sexual intercourse, but when exposed to sexual pain, were unable to control their reaction. One woman described it as being unable to prevent her arousal or subsequent orgasm due to pain, even if she was not aroused when it began. [4]
This, along with other research [5], often links algolagnia to aggression, or hypersexuality, or other control psychosis.
[edit] Addiction
One issue that affects many people with algolagnia is sex addiction and sensory addiction. Algolagniacs often engage in repeated acts to cause pain to themselves of a sexual nature. Usually, algolagniacs do not require a large amount of pain to arouse them, or aid them in achieving orgasm, but if person's pain threshold is sufficiently high, they can continue to endure a high level of pain and (in women and some men) as a result endure multiple orgasms. The pleasure from this may outweigh the normal discomfort, even to the point of addiction. Many algolagniacs, either as a result of what they do or as a side effect, do indeed have a high pain threshold. [6]
The results of such sex addiction run in similar lines to some reactions by masochists, which is why algolagnia is often confused as a paraphilia.
[edit] Algolagnia and Paraphilia
Algolagnia is not a paraphilia as defined by conventional medical literature. While many people, especially those unfamiliar with paraphilias (specifically, physical masochism) and algolagnia, tend to conflate the two as equivalent, this is in error. Paraphilias by definition include mental urges, as is the case with masochism. Since there are very few psychological connotations to algolagnia, it is more often expressed in self-infliction of pain.
[edit] See also
[edit] Resources
- ^ a b Kelley, Kathryn; Donn Byrne. Alternative Approaches to the Study of Sexual Behavior, 13-38. ISBN 0898596777.
- ^ http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/13612
- ^ Sullivan, Harry Stack (1992). Clinical Studies in Psychiatry. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0393006883.
- ^ Zillmann, Dolf (1998). Connections Between Sexuality and Aggression. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 080581907X.
- ^ Bancroft, John D. (1989). Human Sexuality and Its Problems. Elsevier Health Sciences. ISBN 0443034559.
- ^ Fromm, Erich (1992). Anatomy of Human Destructiveness. Owl Books. ISBN 080501604X.
[edit] External links
Categories: BDSM | Paraphilia | Pain
