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Necrophilia is one of the sexual disorders that causes the most rejection in society , since few individuals can understand that there are subjects who become sexually excited in the presence of dead bodies.

But what exactly is this disorder? What are its symptoms and treatment? In today’s article we will answer these questions. Now, to understand what necrophilia is, we will first explain what paraphilias are, a category that includes necrophilia.

Necrophilia, one of the most studied paraphilias

Sexual disorders fall into three broad categories: paraphilias, sexual dysfunctions, and sexual identity disorders. The word
paraphilia has its origin in the Greek language. In Greek, “para” means beside, and “filein” is synonymous with the verb “to love”.

Paraphilias are mental disorders that are characterised by intense and repeated sexual fantasies , sexual impulses towards children or people who do not consent, or towards non-human objects or situations such as suffering or humiliation. Therefore, paraphilias such as necrophilia negatively affect the quality of life of one or more people.Some of the best known are: exhibitionism, voyeurism, fetishism or paedophilia.

You can find out more about these paraphilias in our article: ” more
The major sexual and psychosexual disorders”

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), these sexual fantasies or urges occur over a significant period of time (at least 6 months) and interfere with a person’s normal functioning or sexual satisfaction in their relationships.

Characteristics of the behavior of the person with paraphilia

Although paraphilias are often seen as strange and extreme behaviors, they are easier to understand if one thinks about those behaviors which, in less extreme cases, are quite common. For example, for one person, sexting can cause arousal. However,
when an individual is only aroused through sexting, then it would be considered a paraphilia , because he has a way of satisfying his sexual desires that negatively impacts his well-being.

Recommended article: “Sexting: the risky practice of sending spicy pictures to each other via mobile phone”

In summary, the behavior of people with paraphilia is characterized by:

  • Paraphilia is a disorder of sexual desire that lasts at least six months. Therefore, it must have been sustained over time.
  • It includes abnormal behavior, excitement, fantasy, or pain.
  • There are many types of paraphilias in which the sufferer has fantasies, desires or even maintains relationships with objects or people without their consent.
  • Psychotherapy or anti-androgens are beneficial for patients to control abnormal sexual behavior.

Necrophilia: a rare disorder

Within paraphilias, necrophilia is, along with
pedophilia, one of the paraphilias that causes the most social rejection . Few individuals can imagine a person having intimate relations with a dead person. But the truth is that, despite its strangeness, over the years there have been known cases such as that of Carl Tanzler, who has become famous for his macabre story: he exhumed the body of a former patient of his in order to have intimate relations with her.

People with necrophilia become excited by the bodies , fantasies about them or the fact of possessing objects of the person who is no longer there, with which they can play intimate games. This pathology leads the necrophiliac to a feeling of apathy with those around him, turning his life into this type of act.

Social pressure against necrophilia

Some patients with necrophilia have had a life in common with the deceased and, after his death, wish to continue copulating with him. In other cases, necrophiliacs may have sexual relations with several victims, such as the case of Kenneth Douglas, a necrophiliac from Hamilton County, Ohio, (United States), who had sexual relations with more than 100 women’s bodies while working as an assistant in a morgue in that region . In this case, the necrophiliac was able to direct his life so that he could carry out these acts, so that social censorship would not affect him.

However, necrophilia not only has social or personal consequences, but also legal ones, since the desecration of graves and the retention of lifeless bodies is criminalized in most countries. Therefore,
many necrophiliacs end up being arrested and having severe problems with justice .

Possible treatments

For the treatment of necrophilia, different techniques can be used, generally
cognitive behavioral therapy. Psychotherapy (both individual and group) is the mainstay in the treatment of these patients and, in addition, is usually part of a multimodal treatment, which may include social skills training, drug administration and hormonal treatment.

The administration of anti-androgenic drugs such as
medroxyprogesterone acetate (in the United States) or cyproterone acetate (in Europe) is the treatment of choice for this disorder. Treatment is long-term, because deviant patterns of sexual arousal can re-occur shortly after testosterone levels return to normal.

The administration of
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) such as fluoxetine or fluvoxamine may be helpful as well.

Carl Tanzler: one of the most famous cases of Necrophilia

One of the most famous cases of necrophilia is that of Carl Tanzler, a man who, amazingly,
was able to exhume the body of Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos the one he considered the woman of his life, to continue having sex with her .

Tanzler succeeded in gluing the bones of his deceased loved one together with hangers and wires, put glass eyes in her eye sockets, and replaced the rotten flesh of her with silk cloth treated with wax and white plaster, for the body was in a considerable state of decay and could thus be kept visible longer.

Learn more about this case in our article: “Carl Tanzler’s famous and macabre case of necrophilia”

Bibliographic references:

  • Aggrawal, Anil (2008). Forensic and Medico-legal Aspects of Sexual Crimes and Unusual Sexual Practices. CRC Press. p. 296.
  • Masters, Brian (1985). Killing For Company. Arrow. ISBN 978-0099552611.
  • Aggrawal, Anil (2010). Necrophilia: Forensic and Medico-legal Aspects. CRC Press. pp. 6-7. The primary source is Histories, Book V, 92.