In the world of certified psychologists/psychiatrists,what is the general consensus on sexual fetishes ie.BDSM

Question

Particularly power-play fetishes like BDSM.

Are they considered unhealthy?

Answer 1

Excellent question. The DSM has a handful of entries on sexual disorders: fetishism, masochism, and sadism. What you may find interesting is that these words are overused by most people and actually represent an extreme end of the spectrum. What they actually mean is that you literally cannot achieve orgasm without it. Period. And this has to cause the person some kind of distress or impairment. A true, clinical masochist had to be in real pain to get off, and often get injured in the process.

Psychology has this take on BDSM and the like. You have a problem if you are:
1. Doing something illegal (non-consensual, out in public, young children)
2. suffering injuries (bruises, whelts, lacerations, broken bones)
3. Risking serious injury or death (asphyxiation, choking, being left alone unattended while bound)

If none of the above is true, you're generally ok. If the husband likes to tie the wife up and they're both into it, it's fine. If you dress up and roleplay, that fine too. It really just comes down to consequences.

I'd write more, but I'm running out of space. e-mail me some time if you want to know more.

Answer 2

World government is an unavoidable eventuality. Unless, of course, you believe that we will kill ourselves off entirely. I've more faith in humanity than that. Don't listen to these people who say it can't happen - there were those who couldn't see a spheroid Earth or human mastery of flight. Things are only impossible until they're not. Edit: I've just read over my original post hours later and have come to the conclusion that it sounds a little odd in context with most of the other responses. I'd just like to note that I'm talking long-term here; I do not believe that we are by any means in "end times" or that we have even approached a pinnacle of accomplishment in any of our endeavours, whether science, art, philosophy, medicine, technology, etc. No, we're going all the way. Now, I certainly agree that things may well become very, very ugly before we grow up, but we’ll beat it. I'm sure it will take a long time, and I don't at all expect that I or anyone who will remember that I even lived will ever see it. We live our little lives, look through our little window on the world for a short while, and we think we or our children or grandchildren are so important. The reality is that even to say we are but a drop in the bucket is an overstatement of the significance of one life, and we've only just 'crawled out the cave,' so to speak. Our species has existed for 200,000 years; just consider how far we've come in only the last few hundred. Human beings will one day - in their glory - look back on us as animals.

Answer 3

Yes for different reasons dependent on your school of thought, hence why psychology is sort of a the most interesting, most intense, field of science, but people think its a crock. I digress thou, I'm ranting. Its a fetish because it effects the ability of the individual to come to orgasms any other way. You might be able to get excited, but you won't be able to have orgasm. This is extremely destructive to the process we go thru when we began to incorporate love with lust, or combined the heart with pride really. World love with self love. Or what ever terms you want to use. But its to far on the pride side to be love, which destroys the ability of the individual to truly relate their feelings about the situation. It also gives a person an easy out to any other form of physical intimacy. Is also a symptom of a well bashed ego, some one trying to make up for pride lost, when their actually looking for love needed, twisted wires, sister, twisted wires..... so yes its consider a festish by those schools that accept the exsistence of such things, again psychology proves how feelings are not an exact science, but boy are we trying to mak'em be.....