Psychiatric Disorder Definition, Reason, Symptoms, Treatment & Prevention
Understanding
Necrophilia is a psychiatric disorder characterized by the sexual satisfaction one feels when having intercourse with a deceased person.
This psychiatric disorder is a type of paraphilia. Paraphilia is an abnormal sexual attraction, where sexual attraction is felt not in intimate relationships involving intimate organs such as the penis and vagina.
Necrophilia is rare. People who suffer from this disorder are more men than women.
Apart from necrophilia, several types of disorders that include paraphilias are:
- Fetishism, namely the sexual satisfaction that a person feels when he sees an object belonging to the opposite sex. For example, a man is satisfied with his sexual arousal when he sees women’s underwear.
- Froteurism, namely the sexual satisfaction that a person feels when he rubs his body parts with other people who are usually not aware of the perpetrator’s behavior.
- Voyeurism, that is, someone feels satisfied when he sees another person being naked or having sex.
- Bestialism, namely someone who feels passionate when having sex with animals.
- Sadism, namely sexual satisfaction obtained by hurting the opposite sex.
- Masochism is the opposite of sadism, namely the sexual satisfaction that a person gets when he is hurt.
- Pedophilia, namely sexual satisfaction when the sexual object is a minor.
Symptom
People with necrophilia have an interest or imagination in having sex with people who have died. This could just be in his mind or it could actually be manifested in action. Actions performed on corpses can be in the form of intimate intercourse with the penis, oral sex, anal sex, or masturbation.
A person is considered to have necrophilia if they experience these symptoms for at least six months. In addition, this can interfere with the sufferer’s relationship with the people around him.
To achieve sexual satisfaction, people with necrophilia often seek work in morgues or cemeteries to make it easier for them to gain access to the dead. In some cases, in order to realize their desire to have sex with a corpse, necrophiliacs pay commercial sex workers, dress them in white clothes, white cosmetics, and order sex workers to act like corpses and then have sex with them.
In some rare cases, people with necrophilia can commit criminal acts. He deliberately kills someone, makes him die, so he can have sex with a dead body.
Reason
Until now, the exact cause of necrophilia is unknown. However, most people who have necrophilia experience other disorders as well. For example, anxiety disorders or depression. In addition, people with psychiatric disorders can also become drug users.
Diagnosis
The diagnosis of necrophilia is determined by a psychiatrist or psychologist based on comprehensive interviews with sufferers, their families or those closest to them.
Psychiatrists or psychologists must carry out various examinations to distinguish whether necrophilia occurs due to other diseases, or solely due to mental disorders. For this reason, it is necessary to carry out a complete examination such as:
- Complete blood count and thyroid hormone function
- HIV and hepatitis testing
- CT- scan or MRI of the brain if brain abnormalities are suspected
- Electroencephalography examination to assess electrical activity in the brain
If all of these tests are normal, it means that necrophilia is indeed caused by a mental disorder in the sufferer.
Treatment
Treatment of necrophilia is carried out by a psychiatrist. The main treatment is with sexual therapy performed by a therapist who has expertise in treating necrophilia. Sexual therapy is carried out in dozens of sessions whose aim is to change the mindset of sufferers in their sexual attraction.
In addition, the therapist will explore what underlies the abnormalities that are experienced. Sometimes there is a bad experience in the past that triggers a person to experience necrophilia. Through this therapy, sufferers are also invited to accept and ‘make peace’ with their past. It takes good cooperation and trust between the therapist and the necrophiliac to make this treatment work.
Sometimes antidepressant drugs can also be given, but they are not the main treatment for necrophilia.
Prevention
Until now there is no specific thing that can be done to prevent necrophilia.