Disorders of sexual preference, or paraphilias: a review of the literature.

By their very nature, disorders of sexual preference (ICD-10) or paraphilias (DSM IV) are bizarre patterns of sexual behaviour that have diverse manifestations and are of complicated sexual orientation. Some are harmless, others are sad, robbing sufferers and possibly their partners of loving sexual relationships. Psychopathology within this group of disorders may lead to criminal behaviour, ranging from infringement of decency to some of the most heinous crimes known. In a lifetime of practice no professional in any sphere of law or medicine will see a full cross-section of these conditions, as some are rare and they do not all present to one professional group. The nomenclature is confusing, with its Greek, Latin, French and Portuguese origins, together with eponymous terms. At least 40 different paraphilias have been named (Money, 1988) but these do not cover the full extent of the field.