Psychiatric Disorders Chapter 192. Gender Identity Disorders Paraphilias Paraphilias Disorders characterized by long-standing, intense, sexually arousing fantasies, urges, or behaviors that involve inanimate objects, actual or imagined suffering or humiliation of oneself or one's partner, or nonconsenting partners and that are associated with clinically important distress or disability.
Paraphilias are far more common among males than among females in most cultures.
Biologic reasons for the unequal distribution may exist, although they are poorly defined at present. Developmentally, males must transfer their infantile identification with their mothers to their fathers during the preschool or oedipal period, from about age 3 to 6 yr, whereas females do not have to transfer their identification. The need to disidentify during a critical period of psychosexual development makes the male more vulnerable, possibly leading to the much higher incidence of paraphilias in males. Many of the paraphilias are rare. The most common paraphilias are pedophilia, voyeurism, and exhibitionism.