Passion, flame, desire, attraction… these words refer to the experience of sensuality and sexuality.
This experience or the absence of it is a very important aspect of being human. Even at an academic level, authors such as Sigmund Freud have investigated the importance of libido as one of the fundamental elements (in their case the most important) of the psyche and human behavior. Human sexuality is broad and complex, with great diversity in the type of stimuli that provoke the desire of individuals. We may like one person or another, we may desire certain characteristics that others dislike, or we may even be motivated to try maintaining relationships in ways other than those we normally use.
Regardless of this, As a general rule, the object of desire or what we feel attracted to is a human being with sufficient capacity and physical and mental 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 other animal species other than humans: people who practice zoophilia
As we have mentioned, sexuality is a complex and varied dimension. But There are people whose object of desire is strongly restricted to one aspect, desiring or carrying out 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 activation depends on the presence of pain or humiliation of themselves or 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 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 as limited.
Some of these paraphilias They also involve harm or abuse towards other beings, as occurs with pedophiles or, in the case at hand, zoophiles That is why, although they do not cause harm to the person who expresses that behavior, 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 supposes the existence of a consistent sexual attraction over time towards other non-human animals. Also called bestiality in cases in which the subject consumes his fantasies, This disorder has serious effects on those who suffer from it. Specifically, they tend to be subjects who are ashamed of the acts they commit, causing feelings of anxiety and discomfort (which can cause recurrence of the act as a method to alleviate said anxiety), in addition to facilitating continued deterioration at a social and even work level.
The level of attraction and being the object of desire can be very variable. There are zoophiles who are fixated on a specific species and others who are attracted to various species It must be taken into account that some zoophilic practices are carried out in a substitute manner due to the impossibility of accessing the true object of desire, this being people. However, the zoophilic subject does tend to have a greater preference for non-human beings.
In addition, it must be taken into account that zoophilia is a practice punishable by law in multiple countries (including ours, Spain), due to the abuse committed with the animal in question. Maintaining sexual relations with animals can also cause the transmission of severe diseases, causing sexually transmitted infections such as lymphogranuloma venereum and other alterations that can cause major problems in the person’s quality of life. Likewise, physical injuries may be caused during the act both in person and animal, as well as behavioral alterations after copulation.
Although its exact prevalence is not known (those who have a paraphilia do not usually admit it), this disorder classified as unspecified paraphilia is not common in the general population. The mechanism that causes a human being to establish the object of sexual desire in beings of other species is not yet known
As with the rest of paraphilias, it has been proposed that it may be due to a casual association between sexual and animal arousal. This association would be the product of chance or the sublimation of emotional-sexual needs, and With repeated practice it could become a disorder and a fixation on the other being, that would culminate in identifying him as an object of desire.
Zoophilic practices usually occur in isolated and difficult-to-access areas, generally in rural areas. In this type of environment, human contact can be very limited, while access to livestock and other animals is relatively simple. This is one of the common characteristics among people with zoophilia: loneliness and isolation. Another common characteristic in these subjects that could help explain the problem is the presence of a low level of social skills, which causes a high level of frustration and that in some people can cause the need to vent unsatisfied desire and emotional discomfort.
If to all this we add the emotional bond that exists between a domestic or farm animal and its owner or the person who cares for them, it is possible that the person feels a special connection that can lead to the beginning of sexual desire, and even humanize the animal. This theory would be supported in this case. Additionally, many individuals with this problem indicate that animals give them a higher level of affection and loyalty than other people.
Apart from this, some cultures and beliefs can facilitate the presence of this disorder and in certain mental disorders behaviors of this type 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 misunderstanding based on prejudices. However, In the case of zoophilia, the animals in question do not have the capacity to give or deny consent to copulation, so in practice zoophilia represents a violation of these.
Another reason why treatment is complicated is that most subjects who suffer from zoophilia hide this fact, due to shame or fear of social judgment. The simple fact of accepting therapy means recognizing that you have a problem in that sense.
One of the best ways to treat this problem would be through psychological treatment. Taking into account that people with zoophilia They are generally solitary individuals with little social contact, an effective treatment would be based on helping the subject increase their self-esteem and their relational skills with humans, the analysis of their fantasies and what elements of these are desirable and induce sexual arousal. From all this it would be possible to focus and redirect the subject’s drives.
It is a complex process but possible through psychotherapeutic work, taking into account the behavioral and cognitive sequences of the individual and working both to enhance normative sexual arousal and to de-eroticize the hitherto object of desire.
