Fetishism: Symptoms and Description of this Paraphilia
Fetishism is a paraphilia, or a disorder of sexual arousal. Fetishism is characterized by the use of an inanimate object or a specific part of the body for physical or mental sexual stimulation.
Please see our separate note on Treatment, Mental Disorders and Basic Science for important caveats on the role and definition of diagnostic criteria.
Symptoms of Fetishism
The symptoms of fetishism, summarized and paraphrased from the DSM-IV TR (2000: American Psychiatric Association), require:
- For a period of at least 6 months, the patient has intense sexual desires, fantasies or behaviours involving the use of inanimate objects (such as women’s undergarments).
- This behaviour causes clinically important distress or impairs work, social or other important areas of personal functioning.
- The fetish objects are not limited to articles of female clothing used in cross-dressing (as in Transvestic Fetishism) or devices designed specifically for tactile genital stimulation (e.g., a vibrator).
Often, the individual requires the fetish object(s) to become sexually aroused and is unable to become aroused without it.
