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The 9 main sexual and psychosexual disorders

The 9 main sexual and psychosexual disorders

March 29, 2024

The sexual behavior it is one of the areas of human behavior in which it is more difficult to establish the limit between the normal and the pathological. A classification of the main sexual disorders can give us an idea of ​​how this aspect of our behavior is organized. Therefore, we will talk a little about each disorder of sexual behavior to achieve better understanding.

Sexual disorders: what are they and how do they manifest?

The sexual disorders have been divided into three large groups such as paraphilias, the sexual dysfunctions and the sexual identity disorders. This way of classifying them offers us a basic outline of the types of sexual and psychosexual disorders.


Next we will review each of these large groups to better understand the nature of each sexual disorder, as well as its most common manifestations.

1. Paraphilias

Paraphilias are characterized by i ntenas and repeated sexual fantasies, sexual impulses that imply nonhuman objects, suffering or humiliation own or children or people who do not consent, and therefore are considered maladaptive, because they damage the quality of life of the individual and / or people who are related to him. Several of them are the following:

1.1. Exhibitionism

It is a behavior that is characterized by a high level of excitement through the exposure of the genitals to a person spontaneously and successively . It usually predominates in children and adolescents at most 20-30 years. It occurs more frequently in men and in public places. These people have been described as shy, withdrawn and dependent.


1.2. Voyeurism

It is characterized by the excitement of a person when contemplating naked people or performing some type of sexual activity , the risk of being discovered acts as an arousal of the excitement. It begins in adolescence and can be transient or chronic. They tend to be shy and with some difficulty to start or maintain relationships. Recently a practice has been reported in some cities consisting of people who frequent places where couples are going to have sex. This practice derived from voyeurism has received the name of Dogging or cancaneo.

1.3. Froteurism

Consists in l Erotic excitement through the friction of the genital organ with the body of another person without their consent . These activities are usually carried out in public places such as the subway, nightclubs or the bus. The froteurismo goes accompanied of masturbation before the memory. It affects men between 15-20 years old.


1.4. Fetish

Is the person that is excited observing and manipulating inanimate objects such as female underwear . They usually masturbate while touching the item in question. They are usually heterosexual men. Within this we can define the transvestic fetishism that consists of putting on underwear of the opposite sex when they are alone or when they perform the act with their partner. In another article we define the most rare and curious fetishes.

1.5. Paidofilia

Also known as pedophilia. It is called like this disorder characterized by sexual arousal or pleasure through fantasies and behaviors that involve sexual activity between an adult and a child between 8-12 years.

1.6. Sadism

Is the need to inflict harm on another person to become sexually aroused . It involves sexual impulses and behaviors that involve real acts with or without the consent of the victim. The person who exercises sadism may or may not violate the victim, even masturbate or penetrate with objects.

1.7. Masochism

Masochism implies the need to be humiliated, attacked or mistreated to obtain sexual pleasure . It is one of the paraphilias more clearly harmful, since it limits the freedom of the people.

Sadomasochism, as a disorder and clinical category, should not be confused with the idea of ​​sadomasochism related to certain types of sexual games based on mutual agreement and that do not limit the ability of the person to find sexual pleasure in other tendencies.

2. Sexual dysfunctions

The sexual dysfunctions they include all the alterations that take place during the sexual act, they can appear at the beginning of the sexual life or even later. The causes can be physical, psychological or both. Within this we have several:

2.1. Disorders of sexual desire

The main disorders of sexual desire are the following:

  • Sexual desire inhibited : characterized by a deficit in sexual fantasies and lack of sexual desire. This apathy not only includes disinterest in sex, but also sexual behavior such as masturbation. It is usually much more frequent in women.
  • Disorder due to sex aversion : people with this disorder avoid all genital contact.They usually present a high level of anxiety and panic before the sexual act. It occurs more frequently in women.
  • Sexual arousal disorder : Arousal disorder in women, failure to maintain the lubrication of sexual arousal until the termination of sexual activity. And the problem of erection in man, total or partial failure to obtain or maintain an erection until the end of the sexual act. The most frequent is impotence.
  • Disorders of orgasm : includes male and female sexual dysfunctions and premature ejaculation. Within this category we can also find the Female orgasmic dysfunction (anorgasmia) is defined as an absence or delay of orgasm during normal sexual activity. Psychological factors tend to predominate over organic ones. There is also the Male orgasmic dysfunction, which is characterized by the absence or delay of orgasm in men after normal excitement.
  • Pain disorders : in women, we find female Dispaurenia: 12% of women suffer from it. It appears associated with problems of vaginismus normally. Pain can occur in all attempts at intercourse or in certain postures. Among the possible causes are usually disorders in the vagina or deformations. In men there may be pain in the ejaculation or urethral infections.
  • Vaginismus It can occur even when the woman responds adequately to sexual arousal. The problem comes at the time of intercourse, there is a reflex spasm that causes the muscles of the vagina to contract, thus causing the closure of the vaginal opening.

3. Disorders of sexual identity

Finally we have the sexual identity disorders , which refers to the discomfort felt by a person because of their sexual condition together with the desire to be of the other sex. Among these people is the desire to undergo a plastic surgery that can transform them into a person with a sexual visibility that responds to their identity.

In this area, there is a long debate about whether conflicts in sexual identity should be considered as disorders, or simply as sexual preferences, such would be the case of homosexuality. In fact, although the psychiatric diagnostic manual DSM incorporated it in its first four editions, from the DSM-V it has taken the step of eliminating the Gender Identity Disorder from the list of mental illnesses. However, WHO still considers transsexuality as a disorder.


Sexual Disorders paraphilias (March 2024).


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