What Is a Paraphilia?

PARAPHILIAS -- Greek for "beyond normal", and is the modern day psychiatric term for sexual perversions.
Paraphilias refer to intense, repetitive sexual urges, fantasies or behaviors where the sexual goal is an unusual situation, activity or object. They differ from what some people might consider "novel" sexual activity in that these behaviors cause significant distress or impairment in areas of life functioning. In other words, the person typically recognizes the symptoms as negatively impacting their life, but feel as if they are unable to control them.
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