1. Fetishistic Disorder:
Insight into the debilitation caused by over sexual attraction to topics that border on the
line of being taboo.
Vincent Mauro
Adult Psychopathology
Professor Horan
April 27, 2018

2. Just about all mental disorders and conditions have a stigma that surrounds them. One
disorder, however, has so much stigma that it is almost ignored completely because it has
behaviors attached to it that too many see as outrageous and taboo. That topic is Fetishistic
Disorder; Fetishistic Disorder has to do with one's mental and sexual health. The word fetish has
a taboo attached to it. When one hears the term fetish, they often think about kinky sex. This is
because it has become common to misuse and overuse the term fetish with a wrong
understanding of the definition. A fetish and a kink are not the same thing whatsoever however
many people don't understand this. A kink is “a strong sexual preference; it is defined as the use
of props, costumes and role play to enhance partner intimacy” (Reed, 2012). Spanking, BDSM
and role play are all examples of kinks, not fetishes. A fetish is defined as “a strong interest and
form of sexual desire in which gratification is linked to an abnormal degree to a particular object,
an item of clothing or part of the body” (Reed, 2012). A kink is practiced during sex to enhance
the sex and a fetish is just a strong individual attraction. They are both very different from each
other. The issue with a fetish is that often time the sexual attraction to an object or body part is
too intense to handle and often get in the way of a person’s life. Common examples of fetishes
are foot, underwear and shoe. To be clear, a person can have kinks and fetishes or just kinks or
just fetishes. They do not necessarily have to go hand and hand. Also, a person can have a fetish
without having Fetishistic Disorder. However, fetishistic arousal is considered a problem when it
“interferes with normal sexual or social functioning” and where “sexual arousal is impossible”
without the fetish object (Kellaher, 2015).
A person with this disorder must demonstrate having “fantasies, sexual urges, or
behaviors that cause significant distress or impair social, occupational, or personal functioning”
(Kellaher, 2015). Also, the fetish objects they express being obsessed with are “not articles of

3. clothing used in cross-dressing and are not designed for tactile genital stimulation” (Wright,
2010) , such as a vibrator because that could fall into the kink category. Also, the person with the
disorder must suffer the effects consistently for “at least six months” (Wright, 2010). During
those six months, the person must have recurrent intense sexually arousing fantasies, urges or
behaviors involving nonliving objects such as shoes or a “highly specific focus on a none genital
body part such as feet” (Wright, 2010).
The causes of the disorder are not fully understood. Some theories are that environmental
factors during early childhood or puberty when a person is coming into their sexuality can cause
the disorder. Research shows that the disorder is more commonly found “in men” than women
and most men with the disorder “need the object to be in their presence when trying to be
engaged in a sexual act to achieve an erection” (Zucker, 2012). Unlike a kink, the fetish is not a
sexual preference but a necessity for that person to have to be able to physically engage in sexual
activity.
Treatment for Fetishistic Disorder vary, and some techniques are somewhat controversial.
Often a person only seeks help when the condition becomes so out of hand that it not only affects
them in the bedroom, but in their everyday life. Since fetishes are part of sexual deviancy, it's
easy to assume the social outcomes and stigma that keeps a person with Fetishistic Disorder out
of a therapist's office until they lose a partner or have issues focusing at work due to the sexual
obsession. Biological factors typically have to be “addressed with SSRIs (Selective Serotonin
Reuptake Inhibitor)” (Kucker, 2012). The balance of hormones in a client also has to be checked.
Often having “too much testosterone can be linked to Fetishistic Disorder and that requires
treatment by a variety of medical specialists and the use of antiandrogen medications to lower
the testosterone levels” (Zucker, 2012) in a person suffering from Fetishistic Disorder. In

4. addition to biological treatments, a psychoanalysis and cognitive therapy are have high success
rates. It is also important to address a client's “history of sexuality and sexual development”
(Wright, 2010) as well. A more controversial method is known as “Aversive Conditioning” in
which a “negative stimulus is used to reduce or eliminate the sexual obsession” (Kellaher, 2015).
In doing this, the patient will be asked to visualize scenes of their deviant behavior followed by a
negative event. Another controversial technique is “Covert Sensitization”. In using this, a person
would be asked to visualize the sexual obsession and usually a “foul odor will be pumped in the
air by the therapist” (Kellaher, 2015). The goal is for the patient to associate the deviant behavior
with a negative such as a foul odor.
In conclusion, Fetishistic Disorder is no joke; it is a real disorder that is debilitating to the
person who has it. This disorder affects a person's day to day life and heavily negatively affects a
person's romantic and sexual relationships. Fetishistic Disorder is also understudied and often
not addressed due to the stigma, shame, and embarrassment attached to the disorder. The
symptoms are very clear, but what isn't clear at all is a true cause for the disorder. It's been
theorized that the sexual obsessions stem from previous experiences, but no strong evidence has
been proven. Medical science suggests that the condition is the cause of too many hormones and
the treatment plans for this are often complex and costly. A true cure for this isn't also very
clearly defined. It seems however, that the best results are when sexual counseling along with
proper medical treatment are combined and the client is closely monitored.

5. References
Kellaher, D. (2015). Sexual behavior and Autism Spectrum Disorders. Retrieved April 25,
2018, from https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/f61bbdaa-4e58-4f06-9683-
100ccc94c71c/downloads/1c3jncjir_1593.pdf
Reed, G. M. (2016, September 22). Disorders related to sexuality and gender identity in the ICD‐
11: Revising the ICD‐10 classification based on current scientific evidence, best clinical
practices, and human rights considerations. Retrieved April 25, 2018, from
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wps.20354
Wright, S. (2010, July 15). Depathologizing Consensual Sexual Sadism, Sexual Masochism,
Transvestic Fetishism, and Fetishism. Retrieved April 25, 2018, from
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-010-9651-y?LI=true
Zucker, K. J. (2012). Demographics, Behavior Problems, and Psychosexual Characteristics of
Adolescents with Gender Identity Disorder or Transvestic Fetishism. Retrieved April 25, 2018,
from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0092623X.2011.611219