Somnophilia

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Somnophilia (from Latin somnus "sleep" and Greek φιλία, -philia "friendship") is a paraphilia in which an individual becomes sexually aroused by someone who's asleep or unconscious.<ref name="carey" /><ref name="laws" /><ref name="flora">Flora 2001, p. 92.</ref> The Dictionary of Psychology categorized somnophilia within the classification of predatory paraphilias.<ref name="corsini747" />

OriginEdit

The term somnophilia was coined by John Money in 1986.<ref name="carey">Carey 2014, p. D7.</ref><ref name="laws">Laws 2008, p. 401.</ref> He characterized the condition as a type of sexual fetishism,<ref name="carey" /> described as a type of syndrome: "of the marauding-predatory type in which erotic arousal and facilitation or attainment of orgasm are responsive to and dependent on intruding upon" someone who is unable to respond.<ref name="carey" /><ref name="money270">Money 1986, p. 270.</ref> He wrote that often the condition then subsequently involves the individual waking the unresponsive sexual partner after the act has been committed.<ref name="carey" /><ref name="money270" />

According to Money, somnophilia has a sort of stepwise logic with necrophilia.<ref name="money55" /> He characterized it as a form of "stealth and stealing paraphilias" including kleptophilia.<ref name="money92">Money 1986, p. 92.</ref> Money wrote that somnophilia has a high degree of correlation with acts of incest throughout history.<ref name="money21">Money 1986, p. 21.</ref> Abuse may follow from the condition including use of force or abduction.<ref name="money55">Money 1986, p. 55.</ref> Typically, the individual upon whom the sex act is committed by the somnophiliac is a stranger not previously known intimately to the individual.<ref>Nusbaum 2005, p. 154.</ref> The somnophiliac may create an unconscious state in the victim by drugging them, or may engage in sex with someone who is inebriated or asleep.<ref name="ferguson139">Ferguson 2010, p. 139.</ref> The perpetrator becomes attracted to the idea of a sexual participant who is unable to resist their advances.<ref name="ferguson139" />

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders classified the term in 2000 under DSM-IV TR code 302.9 and in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems under ICD-10 code F65.9.<ref>Levine 2010, p. 407.</ref> The Dictionary of Psychology categorized somnophilia within the classification of predatory paraphilias.<ref name="corsini747">Corsini 2001, p. 747.</ref>

PrevalenceEdit

A 2015 study with a sample of 1516 participants reported that 22.6% of men and 10.8% of women have fantasized about "sexually abusing a person who is drunk, asleep, or unconscious." Another 2021 study by Michael Seto found that 9% of its participants have had interest in "sex with someone who is unconscious or sleeping" and 7.7% engaged in such behavior. A third study reported that 82% of its sample have had interest in engaging in consensual sexual activities with a sleeping partner, and 47% reported some interest in non-consensual somnophilic activities. These studies suggest that somnophilic fantasies are more common than previously thought, though possible sample biases have been identified in some of them.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

TreatmentEdit

Physicians have attempted to treat somnophilia with forms of psychotherapy, as well as with medications used for pedophilia.<ref name="carey" /> James Cantor, psychologist and editor-in-chief of Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, stated: "There are occasional claims for treatment, but no one has presented meaningful, compelling evidence that someone with a paraphilia can be turned into someone without a paraphilia. As far as we can tell, it's like sexual orientation."<ref name="carey" /> Somnophilia rises to the level of diagnosis when it causes "significant impairment", specifically, when the individual performing the sex act does so with a partner who does not give their consent.<ref name="carey" />

In popular cultureEdit

Somnophilia has presented itself as a recurring phenomenon in popular culture, including in the French film influenced by Alfred Hitchcock movies, Who Killed Bambi? (Template:Langx).<ref name="ferguson156">Ferguson 2010, p. 156.</ref> The plot of the film involves a surgeon who drugs his female patients in order to rape them.<ref name="ferguson156" /> The assailant resorts to murder after one of the women wakes up from her unconscious state as he begins to remove her clothing.<ref name="ferguson156" /> The title character attempts to warn the board of directors at the hospital of the murderer's activity.<ref name="ferguson156" />

In the 1997 Japanese anime film The End of Evangelion, the main protagonist Shinji Ikari masturbates in a fit of intense melancholia to a comatose Asuka Langley Soryu lying on a hospital bed.

NotesEdit

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ReferencesEdit

External linksEdit

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"Doze Were the Days – A brief look at somnophilia" at Psychology Today

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