Zoophilia: causes, symptoms and treatment

A paraphilic disorder towards animals, with ethical and health-damaging consequences.

Passion, flame, desire, attraction... these words refer to the experience of sensuality and sexuality.

This experience, or the lack of it, is a very important aspect of the human being. Even at the academic level, authors such as Sigmund Freud have investigated the importance of libido as one of the fundamental elements (in his case the most important) of the human psyche and behavior. Human sexuality is broad and complex, with great diversity in the type of stimuli that provoke desire in individuals. stimuli that provoke desire in individuals. We may like one person or another, desire may be aroused by certain characteristics that others dislike, or we may even be motivated to try relationships in ways other than those we normally employ.

Regardless, as a general rule, the object of desire or what we are attracted to is a human being with sufficient physical and psychological capacity and maturity to establish relationships. with sufficient physical and psychological capacity and maturity to establish relationships. However, there are people whose experience of sexuality includes an atypical object of desire, in some cases even illegal and harmful to themselves or others. Within this group we can find people who maintain carnal relations with living beings of animal species other than humans: people who practice zoophilia.

Recalling concepts: paraphilias

As we have mentioned, sexuality is a complex and varied dimension. But But there are people whose object of desire is strongly restricted to one aspect of their sexuality.These persons are those who are sexually active, desiring or engaging in sexual practices with living beings or inanimate objects that either do not consent or do not have sufficient capacity or maturity to make the decision to consent, or whose sexual arousal depends on the presence of Pain or humiliation to themselves or to the other person. These people suffer from the type of disorders known as paraphilias.

This type of disorder occurs continuously over time and causes a high level of discomfort in the person, by recurrently having strong sexual fantasies that include acts or actors that the subject himself or society rejects. And even in cases of paraphilias in which people do not present discomfort, the fact of having a restricted object of desire causes them to see part of their life limited.

Some of these paraphilias also involve harm or abuse towards other beings, as in the case of pedophiles or, in the present case, zoophiliacs.. That is why, although they do not involve harm to the person who expresses this behavioral conduct, they are considered paraphilias, problems that must be treated with professional help.

Zoophilia as a paraphilic disorder

One of the best known paraphilias is zoophilia or bestiality. This disorder of sexual inclination involves the existence of a consistent sexual attraction over time to other non-human animals. Also called bestiality in cases where the subject consummates his fantasies, this disorder has serious effects on those who suffer from it. Specifically, they are usually subjects who are ashamed of the acts they commit, causing feelings of anxiety and discomfort (which can lead to the recidivism of the act as a method to relieve such anxiety), in addition to facilitating a continued deterioration at social and even occupational level.

The level of attraction and the object of desire can be very variable. There are zoophilic people who have a fixation with a particular species and others who are attracted to different species.. It must be taken into account that some zoophilic practices are carried out as a substitute for the impossibility of accessing the real object of desire, which is people. However, the zoophilic subject does tend to have a greater preference for non-human beings.

In addition to this, it must be taken into account that zoophilia is a practice punishable by law in many countries (including ours, Spain). (including ours, Spain), due to the abuse that is committed with the animal in question. Sexual intercourse with animals can also lead to the transmission of severe diseases, causing sexually transmitted infections such as lymphogranuloma venereum and other disorders that can cause major problems in the quality of life of the person. Likewise, physical injuries can be caused during the act, both to the person and the animal, as well as to the animal itself. in both the person and the animal, as well as behavioral alterations after copulation.

Possible causes of zoophilic behavior

Although the exact prevalence is not known (those who have a paraphilia usually do not admit it), this disorder, classified as an unspecified paraphilia, is not common in the general population. The mechanism that causes a human being to establish in beings of other species his or her object of sexual desire is not yet known..

As with other paraphilias, it has been proposed that it may be due to a casual association between sexual arousal and animal. This association would be the product of chance or of the sublimation of affective-sexual needs, and, in the face of repeated practice, it could become a disorder and a fixation in the other being. repeated practice could become a disorder and a fixation on the other being, which would culminate in identifying him/her as an object of desire.

Zoophilic practices usually take place in isolated and difficult to access areas, generally in rural areas. In such environments, human contact may be very limited, while access to livestock and other animals is relatively easy. This is one of the common characteristics among people with zoophilia: loneliness and isolation. Another common characteristic in these subjects that could help to explain the problem is the presence of a low level of social skills, which cause frustration, which in some people may provoke the need to vent unsatisfied desire and emotional discomfort. and mood discomfort.

If to all this is added the emotional bond that exists between a domestic or farm animal and its owner or caregiver, it is possible that the person feels a special connection that can lead to a beginning of sexual desire and even humanize the animal. and its owner or the person who takes care of them, it is possible that the person feels a special connection that can derive in a principle of sexual desire, and even humanize the animal. This theory would be supported in this case. In addition, many individuals with this problem indicate that animals give them a higher level of affection and loyalty than other people.

In addition, some cultures and beliefs may facilitate the presence of animals, some cultures and beliefs may facilitate the presence of this disorder.In some mental disorders, this type of behavior may appear secondarily.

Treatment of zoophilia

The treatment of a paraphilia such as zoophilia is complex and subject to debate. Many of these patients consider that zoophilic practices do not harm anyone, equating their situation to that of other historically persecuted groups, alleging a supposed lack of understanding based on prejudice. However, in the case of zoophilia in the case of zoophilia, however, the animals in question do not have the capacity to give or withhold consent to copulation. to copulation, so in practice zoophilia is a violation of them.

Another reason why treatment is complicated is that most subjects suffering from zoophilia hide this fact, due to shame or fear of social judgment. The simple fact of accepting therapy means acknowledging that one has a problem in this regard.

One of the best ways to treat this problem would be through psychological treatment. Considering that people with zoophilia are generally solitary individuals with little contact with others. are generally solitary individuals with little social contactIn the case of the latter, an effective treatment would be based on helping the subject to increase his self-esteem and his relational skills with humans, the analysis of his fantasies and of which elements of these are appetizing and induce sexual arousal. From all this it would be possible to focus and redirect the subject's drives.

This is a complex process but possible through psychotherapeutic work, attending to the behavioral and cognitive sequences of the individual and working both on enhancing the normative sexual arousal and on de-eroticizing the object of desire until then.