Vorarefilia: symptoms, causes and treatment of this paraphilia
The concept of cannibalism is usually unpleasant, frightening and macabre for the majority of the population. However, some people link this act to a situation of power and domination, seeing the fact of devouring or being devoured by another person as something sexually exciting. It is what happens with a curious paraphilia called vorarephilia . And it's about that concept that we're going to talk about in this article.
- Related article: "Filias y parafilias: definition, types and characteristics"
Vorarefilia: the desire to eat someone or be eaten
It receives the name of vorarefilia one of the most dangerous paraphilias, which is characterized by the recurrent existence of sexual fantasies linked to the idea of devouring or being devoured in life by another person, either partially or totally. Sometimes also with the idea of being digested. These fantasies are constantly repeated for at least six months and are generators of great sexual excitement or even be the only means by which the subject reaches orgasm, being able to try to carry them out.
In principle, fantasy does not have to include the idea of death: what these people find erotic is not the idea of killing or dying, but the idea of consuming or being consumed by another person . However, this does not imply that some subjects with this paraphilia fantasize about eating or being eaten once they are dead.
It should also be assessed that what is erotic to people with vorarephilia is the idea of consuming or being consumed, or of integrating or being physically integrated into another person. It generally involves the intake and digestion of the consumed , but it is also possible that fantasy involves being consumed by a woman's vagina (in a kind of inverted delivery) or by a man's urethra, anus or even nipples.
There are different types of vorarephilia depending on the type of fantasy involved, although two of them stand out. The soft vore in which the devoured is eaten while alive and / or whole and in which there is little level of violence, and there may even be no injuries until they reach the stomach. The second is the hard vore in which they enter in which the devoured one receives lacerations and abundant wounds, there is violence and suffering and a lot of blood and even mutilations and amputations. The latter is the least frequent, most sadistic and least linked to the sexual.
Linkage with other paraphilias
The vorarefilia can, in many occasions, be confused with sexual cannibalism due to its great resemblance. However, there is a difference between the two concepts, although it is a nuance that can be difficult to detect for many people: sexual cannibalism involves the excitement of eating human flesh, which is the object of desire. In vorarephilia, however, the object of desire is not to eat human flesh but to devour or be devoured by something or someone, It is also not necessary that said consumption be made through the intake .
This paraphilia is linked to other types of paraphilia, especially those linked to domination and submission and the link between pleasure and pain. It has a part of sadism and masochism, although it is not the pain itself that generates excitement. It can also appear related to other paraphilias such as macrophilia (sexual attraction towards giants, being a habitual fantasy devoured by a giant) or microfilia (sexual attraction for a creature of a much smaller size, can also fantasize of devouring or being devoured ).
We are faced with a rare paraphilia, which can appear in people of different ages and sexes. However, it is more frequent in males between 18 and 46 years of age. It is possible that it generates clinically significant discomfort in the person who suffers or a functional limitation in the life of the person, although in some cases the fantasies are not lived with discomfort.
A fantasy usually not put into practice
Generally the vorarefilia does not pass of the land of the fantasy, knowing the people with this parafilia its implications and the damage that can be caused. Generally people with this type of fantasy resort to onanism or other sexual practices, or they use pornographic videos linked to the theme or simulation and role plays. Likewise, paraphilia is uncommon with what It is extremely complex that two people could reach an agreement of this type .
However, it generally does not always imply: there have been cases of subjects with vorarephilia who have come to practice cannibalism or to be victims of it, resulting in death or mutilation of one of those involved. And although it does not seem credible, in some of these cases the acts are carried out with the connivance of who is going to be devoured.In other cases where psychopathy is present, it can even lead to the commission of murders.
This is why vorarephilia is one of the most dangerous paraphilias, given that in the case of going from fantasy to action in most cases will mean a death or serious harm to someone's physical integrity . It would be treated, then, with or without the consent of the person consumed, of a blood crime punishable by law in most countries.
Sadly, this paraphilia is also known to have caused various deaths, being one of the most mediatic cases today the cannibal of Rotenburg.
Causes
The causes of this paraphilia are not completely known, although it is possible to make several hypotheses in this regard.
First of all, you have to take into account that the vorarephilia is related to power and the roles of domination and submission , having the person who devours the control and assimilates the devoured one, which is consumed. In fact, many of the people with this paraphilia use role plays of this type because of their similarity.
Some people link the fantasy of being devoured to the need to lose control, like in people of a dominant nature or excessively self-controlled . On the contrary, the fantasy of devouring could be an attempt on the part of the subject to correct a lack of perception of control.
Also, in different cases there have been poor family models, with rigid parents and lack of positive emotional expression. In these cases there is the possibility that the devoured being seeks assimilation by another person as an attempt to recollect or to become part of another being.
There may also be a basic psychopathic personality, especially in those cases that seek to put their fantasies into practice.
Treatment
Psychotherapy is necessary to stop linking these ideas and mental images with sexual arousal, something that is easier to achieve from cognitive-behavioral therapy applied to the paraphilias.
The cannibal of Rotemburgo: when the vorarefilia becomes reality
One of the most well-known recent cases of vorarephilia and cannibalism was the case of the so-called cannibal of Rothenburg, Armin Meiwes .
This man, who claimed to have had cannibal fantasies since childhood and adolescence, came into contact in 2002 with Bernd Jürgen Armando Brandes, agreeing to a meeting in which the first was to devour the second (being an act consented by Brande himself).
After meeting and maintaining relations, according to the statements and a video recorded by Meiwes himself, they proceeded to cut off Brande's penis and then cook it and eat it between the two (previously consuming Brande various substances to reduce the level of pain.) After that, Brande began to feel bad due to the loss of blood, being taken by Meiwes to the bathtub and losing consciousness.
Once there, Meiwes cut his neck, later dismembering his victim and guarding his flesh. It would not be discovered until 18 months later , even with the remains of Brande in his fridge, when he posted the fact on the Internet to be presumably looking to repeat the experience. A user would end up notifying the police, which stopped him.
Currently serving a life sentence for sexually motivated murder , although there were difficulties in the trial due to the consent shown by Brandes.
Bibliographic references:
- Griffiths, M. (2013). Turn on the eater: a beginners guide to vorarephilia. Psychology Today [Online]. Available at: //www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-excess/201311/turn-the-eater.
- Lykins, A.D., & Cantor, J.M. (2014). Vorarephilia: A case study in masochism and eroticism. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 43, 181-186.
- Pfafflin, F. (2008). Good enough to eat. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 37, 286-293.
