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 the human being. Even at an academic level, authors like Sigmund Freud have investigated the importance of the libido as one of the fundamental elements (in his case the most important) of the human psyche and behavior. Human sexuality is broad and complex, there being a great diversity in the type of stimuli that provoke the desire of individuals. We may like one person or another, arouse desire for certain characteristics that others dislike, or even motivate us to try to maintain relationships in ways different from those we normally employ.

Regardless of this, as a rule the object of desire or what we are attracted to is a human being with sufficient capacity and physical and psychic 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 different from humans: people who practice bestiality .

Recalling concepts: paraphilias

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 performing sexual practices with living beings or inanimate objects that they either do not consent to 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 himself or society rejects. And even in the cases of paraphilias in which people do not present discomfort, the fact of having an object of restricted desire causes them to see part of their life as limited.

Some of these paraphilias also involve harm or abuse towards other beings, such as paedophiles or, in this case, zophiles . That is why, although they do not suppose a harm for the person who expresses this behavioural behaviour, they are considered paraphilias, problems that have to be treated with professional help.

Bestiality as a paraphilic disorder

One of the best known paraphilias is bestiality. This disorder of sexual inclination involves the existence of a consistent sexual attraction over time to other non-human animals. Also called bestiality in cases where 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 lead to the repetition of the act as a method to alleviate this anxiety), as well as facilitating a continued deterioration at the social and even work level.

The level of attraction and desire can be very variable. There are zoophiliacs that present a fixation with a specific species and others that are attracted to different species . It should be taken into account that some zoophilic practices are carried out in a substitute manner when it is impossible to access the true object of desire, which is people. However, the zoophilic subject does tend to have a greater preference for non-human beings.

In addition, it should be noted that bestiality is a practice that is punishable by law in many countries (including ours, Spain), due to the abuse that is committed with the animal in question. Maintaining sexual relations with animals can also provoke the transmission of severe diseases, leading to the appearance of sexually transmitted infections such as lymphogranuloma venereum and other alterations that can cause great problems in the quality of life of the person. Likewise, physical injuries can be caused during the act, both in the person and in the animal, as well as behavioural alterations after copulation.

Possible causes of zoophilic behaviour

Although its exact prevalence is not known (those who have a paraphilia usually do not admit it), this disorder classified as unspecified paraphilia is not common in the general population. The mechanism that causes a human being to establish in beings of other species their object of sexual desire is not yet known .

As with all paraphilias, it has been proposed that it may be due to a casual association between sexual and animal excitement. This association would be the product of chance or of the sublimation of affective-sexual needs, and in the face of repeated practice could constitute a disorder and a fixation on the other being, which would culminate in identifying it as an object of desire.

Zoological practices often take place in isolated areas that are difficult to access, usually in rural areas. In such environments human contact may be very limited, while access to livestock and other animals is relatively easy. This is one of the common characteristics of people with zoophilia: loneliness and isolation. Another common characteristic in these subjects that could help to explain the problem is the presence of a low level of social skills, which causes a high level of frustration and in some people may provoke the need to vent unsatisfied desire and psychic discomfort.

If we add to all this the emotional bond that exists between a domestic or farm animal and its owner or the person who takes care of it, it is possible that the person feels a special connection that can lead to a beginning of sexual desire, and even humanize the animal . This theory would be supported in this case. In addition, 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 may facilitate the presence of this disorder , and in certain mental disorders this type of behaviour may appear in a secondary way.

Treatment of Bestiality

The treatment of a paraphilia such as bestiality is complex and subject to debate. Many of these patients consider that with the zoophilic practices they do not harm anyone, equating their situation to that of other historically persecuted groups, alleging a supposed misunderstanding based on prejudice. 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 is a violation of these.

Another reason why treatment is complicated is that most subjects who suffer from bestiality hide this fact, due to shame or fear of social judgment. The simple fact of accepting the therapy means recognizing that one has a problem in that sense.

One of the best ways to deal with this problem would be through psychological treatment. Considering that people with bestiality are generally solitary individuals with little social contact , an effective treatment would be based on helping the subject to increase his self-esteem and his relational skills with humans, the analysis of his fantasies and which elements of these are desirable and induce sexual excitement. From all this, it would be possible to focus and redirect the subject’s impulses.

It is a complex process but possible through psychotherapeutic work, attending to the individual’s behavioural and cognitive sequences and working both on enhancing normative sexual arousal and on de-eroticizing the hitherto object of desire.

Bibliographic references:

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Fifth edition. DSM-V. Masson, Barcelona.
  • Belloch, Sandín and Ramos (2008). Manual of Psychopathology. McGraw-Hill. Madrid.
  • Cáceres, J. (2001). Paraphilias and rape. Madrid: Editorial Síntesis.