Somnophilia

Somnophilia (from Latin somnus "sleep" and Greek φιλία, -philia "friendship") is a paraphilia in which an individual becomes sexually aroused by someone who is unconscious.^[1][2][3] The Dictionary of Psychology categorized somnophilia within the classification of predatory paraphilias.^[4]

The term somnophilia was coined by John Money in 1986.^[1][2] He characterized the condition as a type of sexual fetishism,^[1] described as a type of syndrome: "of the marauding-predatory type in which erotic arousal and facilitation or attainment of orgasm are responsive to and dependent on intruding upon" someone who is unable to respond.^[1][5] He wrote that often the condition then subsequently involves the individual waking the unresponsive sexual partner after the act has been committed.^[1][5]

According to Money, somhophilia has a sort of stepwise logic with necrophilia.^[6] He characterized it as a form of "stealth and stealing paraphilias" including kleptophilia.^[7] Money wrote that somnophilia has a high degree of correlation with acts of incest throughout history.^[8] Abuse may follow from the condition including use of force or abduction.^[6] Typically, the individual upon whom the sex act is committed by the somnophiliac is a stranger not previously known intimately to the individual.^[9] The somnophiliac may create an unconscious state in the victim by drugging them, or may engage in sex with someone who is inebriated or asleep.^[10] The perpetrator becomes attracted to the idea of a sexual participant who is unable to resist their advances.^[10]

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders classified the term in 2000 under DSM-IV TR code 302.9 and in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems under ICD-10 code F65.9.^[11] The Dictionary of Psychology categorized somnophilia within the classification of predatory paraphilias.^[4]

A 2015 study with a sample of 1516 participants reported that 22,6% of men and 10,8% of women have fantasized about "sexually abusing a person who is drunk, asleep, or unconscious." Another 2021 study by Michael Seto found that 9% of its participants have had interest in "sex with someone who is unconscious or sleeping" and 7,7% engaged in such behavior. A third study reported that 82% of its sample have had interest in engaging in consensual sexual activities with a sleeping partner, and 47% reported some interest in non-consensual somnophilic activities. These studies suggest that somnophilic fantasies are more common than previously thought, though possible sample biases have been identified in some of them.^[12]

Physicians have attempted to treat somnophilia with forms of psychotherapy, as well as with medications used for pedophilia.^[1] James Cantor, psychologist and editor-in-chief of Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, stated: "There are occasional claims for treatment, but no one has presented meaningful, compelling evidence that someone with a paraphilia can be turned into someone without a paraphilia. As far as we can tell, it's like sexual orientation."^[1] Somnophilia rises to the level of diagnosis when it causes "significant impairment", specifically, when the individual performing the sex act does so with a partner who does not give their consent.^[1]

Somnophilia has presented itself as a recurring phenomenon in popular culture, including in the French film influenced by Alfred Hitchcock movies, Who Killed Bambi? (French: Qui a tué Bambi ?).^[13] The plot of the horror film involves a surgeon who drugs his female patients in order to rape them.^[13] The assailant resorts to murder after one of the women wakes up from her unconscious state as he begins to remove her clothing.^[13] The title character attempts to warn the board of directors at the hospital of the murderer's activity.^[13]

• Carey, Benedict (December 8, 2014). "Health – When a Rapist's Weapon Is a Drug". The New York Times. p. D7; Print version: When a Rapist's Weapon Is a Pill; Edition: December 9, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
• Corsini, Raymond J. (2001). "Predatory paraphilias". The Dictionary of Psychology. Routledge. p. 747. ISBN 978-1583913284.
• Ferguson, Anthony (2010). The Sex Doll: A History. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786447947.
• Flora, Rudy (2001). How to Work with Sex Offenders: A Handbook for Criminal Justice, Human Service, and Mental Health Professionals. New York: Haworth Clinical Practice Press. p. 92. ISBN 0-7890-1499-8. OCLC 45668958.
• Laws, D. Richard; O'Donohue, William T., eds. (2008). "Somnophilia". Sexual Deviance, Second Edition: Theory, Assessment, and Treatment. The Guilford Press. p. 401. ISBN 978-1593856052.
• Levine, Stephen B.; Risen, Candace B.; Althof, Stanley E., eds. (2009). Handbook of Clinical Sexuality for Mental Health Professionals. Routledge. p. 407. ISBN 978-0415800761.
• Money, John (1986). Lovemaps: Clinical Concepts of Sexual/Erotic Health and Pathology, Paraphilia, and Gender Transposition of Childhood, Adolescence, and Maturity. Irvington. pp. 21, 26, 55, 79, 92. ISBN 978-0829015898.
• Nusbaum, Margaret; Jo Ann Rosenfeld (2005). Sexual Health across the Lifecycle: A Practical Guide for Clinicians. Cambridge University Press. p. 154. ISBN 978-0521534215.

Look up somnophilia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• "Doze Were the Days – A brief look at somnophilia" at Psychology Today