Consenting to constraint: BDSM therapy after the DSM-5 - 04/06/19
Abstract |
Objective |
BDSM is a overlapping acronym that refers to the practices of bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism. The American Psychiatric Association “depathologized” kinky sex – including cross-dressing, fetishism, and BDSM –, despite retaining a clinical justification, in the fifth edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Henceforth, the paraphilias are considered “other sexual interests.”
Method |
We analyze several psycho-sexological studies that treat sadomasochistic practices as psychic case studies. BDSM practices are no longer considered deviant behaviors, but, on the contrary, “common” behaviors that have been adopted by a large number of individuals. These individuals use contractualization in a specific context.
Result |
Rather than considering BDSM practice to be a perversion by assimilating it to homosexuality, current research in gender and psychiatry and in the psychology of subsexualities has moved beyond the analysis of “deviance,” preferring a scientific study of the effects of BDSM practice, particularly of their positive effects on mood, stress, or depression.
Discussion |
The BDSM and Therapy Project is concerned with articulating the possible risks of BDSM play and with clarifying situations where BDSM play is neither safe nor helpful. Members of the BDSM community have expressed the following points: the development of barriers between community members; the risks of alienation and isolation through stigmatization; having one's limits violated during a scene; the potential risk of dehumanization and destruction.
Conclusion |
BDSM therapy, in a therapeutic setting as well as within the community, is based on consent. BDSM can be a form of psychotherapy for the subject. BDSM therapy would consist in the modification of the meaning of physical suffering by transforming it into voluntary pain, through consensual constraint. A functional BDSM therapeutic practice requires at least three conditions: (1) the SM relationship involves a willing dominant and a willing submissive; (2) this erotic duo exists in a codified setting; (3) the dominant is a “therapizer” in her/his display of empathy for the submissive; (4) a two-way flow of reciprocal benefits in terms of post-session well-being.
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Keywords : Constraint, Consent, Psychotherapy, DSM-5, BDSM, Sexual behavior, Psychiatric nosography
Plan
☆ | Any reference to this article must mention: Andrieu B, Lahuerta C, Luy A. Consenting to constraint: BDSM therapy after the DSM-5. Evol psychiatr. 2019; 84 (2): pages (for the print version) or URL and date of visit (for the online version). |
☆☆ | Translated by Emily Lechner, clinical psychologist. 118, avenue du Général Leclerc 75014 Paris, France. lechneremily@gmail.com. |
Vol 84 - N° 2
P. e1-e14 - avril 2019 Retour au numéroBienvenue sur EM-consulte, la référence des professionnels de santé.
L’accès au texte intégral de cet article nécessite un abonnement.
Déjà abonné à cette revue ?