Algolagnia (; from el, ἄλγος, ''álgos'', "pain", and el, λαγνεία, ''lagneía'', "lust") is a sexual tendency which is defined by deriving
sexual pleasure
Sexual stimulation is any stimulus (including bodily contact) that leads to, enhances and maintains sexual arousal, and may lead to orgasm. Although sexual arousal may arise without physical stimulation, achieving orgasm usually requires physica ...
and stimulation from physical
pain,
often involving an
erogenous zone
An erogenous zone (from Greek , ''érōs'' "love"; and English ''-genous'' "producing", from Greek , ''-genḗs'' "born") is an area of the human body that has heightened sensitivity, the stimulation of which may generate a sexual response, s ...
. Studies conducted indicate differences in how the brains of those with algolagnia interpret nerve input.
History of research
In 1892,
Albert von Schrenck-Notzing introduced the term algolagnia to describe "sexual" masochism, to differentiate it from
Charles Féré's earlier term called "algophilia"; Schrenck-Notzing's interpretation was that algolagnia involved ''
lust
Lust is a psychological force producing intense desire for something, or circumstance while already having a significant amount of the desired object. Lust can take any form such as the lust for sexuality (see libido), money, or power. It c ...
'', not ''love'' as Fere interpreted the phenomenon.
(It should be cautioned, though, that the definitions regarding
sadism and masochism as medical terms have changed over the years (as also noted in the main article for that topic) and are still evolving,
and there are also non-medical definitions of
sadomasochism.) However, Krafft-Ebing's theories in
''Psychopathia Sexualis'' – where the terms sadism and masochism were used – were adopted by Sigmund Freud and became an integral part of psychoanalysis, thereby ensuring their predominance over the concept of "algolagnia".
The neurologist Albert Eulenberg was another one of the first researchers to look into algolagnia,
in the 1902 ''Sadismus und Masochismus'' (Sadism and Masochism). Soon thereafter,
Havelock Ellis
Henry Havelock Ellis (2 February 1859 – 8 July 1939) was an English physician, eugenicist, writer, progressive intellectual and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He co-wrote the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality i ...
also looked into algolagnia, in the early 1900s, and stated "Sadism and Masochism – Algolagnia Includes Both Groups of Manifestations"
but maintained that enjoyment of pain was restricted to an erotic context, in contrast to Krafft-Ebing's interpretations. With such titles as ''Analysis of the Sexual Impulse, Love and Pain, The Sexual Impulse in Women'' and ''The Evolution of Modesty, The Phenomena of Sexual Periodicity, Auto-Erotism'', Ellis described the basics of the condition.
Eugen Kahn,
Smith Ely Jelliffe
Smith Ely Jelliffe (October 27, 1866 – September 25, 1945) was an American neurologist, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst. He lived and practiced in New York City nearly his entire life. Originally trained in botany and pharmacy, Jelliffe switche ...
,
William Alanson White
William Alanson White (24 January 1870 – 7 March 1937) was an American neurologist and psychiatrist.
Biography
He was born in Brooklyn, New York to parents Alanson White and Harriet Augusta Hawley White. He attended public school in Brooklyn. ...
, and
Hugh Northcote were other early psychological researchers into algolagnia.
Research
In 1992, algolagnia was described as a physical phenomenon in which the brain interprets pain signals as pleasurable leading to psychological effects.
Dolf Zillmann wrote that:
...most algolagniacs see their actions as an active lust, not a motivational one. Patients with algolagnia could lead normal lives, enjoy normal arousal sequences, and indulge in fairly normal sexual intercourse, but when exposed to sexual pain, were unable to control their reaction. One woman described it as being unable to prevent her arousal or subsequent orgasm due to pain, even if she was not aroused when it began.
This and other research
have linked algolagnia to aggression,
hypersexuality
Hypersexuality is extremely frequent or suddenly increased libido. It is controversial whether it should be included as a clinical diagnosis used by mental healthcare professionals. Nymphomania and satyriasis were terms previously used for the c ...
, or other control psychoses.
Research using MRI and
computer models
Computer simulation is the process of mathematical modelling, performed on a computer, which is designed to predict the behaviour of, or the outcome of, a real-world or physical system. The reliability of some mathematical models can be deter ...
of neuron firing patterns has shown that most algolagniacs experience pain differently from others. Algolagniacs may have DNA errors such as
SCN9A, causing inaccurate
nociception to occur.
At least one researcher in the 1900s,
Albert Freiherr von Schrenck-Notzing, who was a self-professed sadist, thought that algolagnia was a
psychological disorder. This view began to change once the
Kinsey Reports noted that many seemingly normal people often enjoy pain in a sexual context, and later
Norman Breslow found that, before 1977, only four previous studies in all the scientific literature were
empirical in nature. One of the researchers whom Breslow cited as having empirically-valid work, Andres Spengler, concluded that earlier research was "heavily burdened with prejudice and ignorance" against those whose sexual practices were in the minority, falsely assuming behaviors to be
pathological
Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in th ...
when in fact they were statistically abnormal, but harmless. In 1993 Thomas Wetzstein published a large-scale study of his local subculture from a sociological viewpoint, confirming Spengler's results and expanding on them.
No empirical study has found a connection to violent crimes or evidence for an increased tendency towards any sociopathological behavior in algolagnia or the related features of sexual sadomasochism, as had been generally assumed since Krafft-Ebing's era.
The term algolagnia has fallen into rare usage, and there is no entry for it in the
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 37,000 members are involv ...
's
DSM IV
The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (DSM; latest edition: DSM-5-TR, published in March 2022) is a publication by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for the classification of mental disorders using a common langua ...
-TR. Inflicting pain on others has been termed "active algolagnia" and equated to the
pathological
Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in th ...
form of
sadism
Sadism may refer to:
* Sadomasochism, the giving or receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation
* Sadistic personality disorder, an obsolete term proposed for individuals who derive pleasure from the s ...
in Mosby's Medical Dictionary, which also equates the pathological form of masochism to "passive algolagnia", but it cannot be a pathological (dangerous)
paraphilia
Paraphilia (previously known as sexual perversion and sexual deviation) is the experience of intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. It has also been defined as sexual interest in anything ot ...
form of sadism or masochism unless it involves pain inflicted on "non-consenting" persons, or "cause
marked distress or interpersonal difficulty." And using algolagnia as both a pathological and non-pathological term, some in the modern research community still link it to some but not all
BDSM
BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...
activities.
There is little ongoing research, with most neurophysiologists concentrating on neuropathological reasons for such reactions.
[Pg 197,''Therapeutic Suggestion in Psychopathia Sexualis with Special Reference'']
See also
*
Sexual masochism disorder
*
Autosadism
*
Mortification of the flesh
Footnotes
References
Ellis, on algolagnia A 1900s book on algolagnia*
{{paraphilia
BDSM terminology
Pain