Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
''somnus'' "sleep" and
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
φιλία, ''-philia'' "friendship") is a
paraphilia
Paraphilia (previously known as sexual perversion and sexual deviation) is the experience of intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. It has also been defined as sexual interest in anything ot ...
in which an individual becomes sexually aroused by someone who is unconscious.Flora 2001, p. 92. ''The Dictionary of Psychology'' categorized somnophilia within the classification of predatory paraphilias.
Origin
The term ''somnophilia'' was coined by
John Money
John William Money (8 July 1921 – 7 July 2006) was a New Zealand psychologist, sexologist and author known for his research into sexual identity and Sex determination and differentiation (human), biology of gender. He was one of the firs ...
in 1986.Carey 2014, p. D7.Laws 2008, p. 401. He characterized the condition as a type of
sexual fetishism
Sexual fetishism or erotic fetishism is a sexual fixation on a nonliving object or nongenital body part. The object of interest is called the fetish; the person who has ''a fetish'' for that object is a fetishist. A sexual fetish may be regard ...
, 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.Money 1986, p. 270. He wrote that often the condition then subsequently involves the individual waking the unresponsive sexual partner after the act has been committed.
According to Money, somnophilia may progress to
necrophilia
Necrophilia, also known as necrophilism, necrolagnia, necrocoitus, necrochlesis, and thanatophilia, is sexual attraction towards or a sexual act involving corpses. It is classified as a paraphilia by the World Health Organization (WHO) in it ...
, the desire to have sexual relations with a dead body. He characterized it as a form of "stealth and stealing paraphilias" including kleptophilia.Money 1986, p. 92. Money wrote that somnophilia has a high degree of correlation with acts of
incest
Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity (marriage or stepfamily), adopt ...
throughout history.Money 1986, p. 21. Abuse may follow from the condition including use of force or abduction.Money 1986, p. 55. Typically, the individual upon whom the sex act is committed by the somnophiliac is a stranger not previously known intimately to the individual. 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.Ferguson 2010, p. 139. The perpetrator becomes attracted to the idea of a sexual participant who is unable to resist their advances.
''
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (DSM; latest edition: DSM-5-TR, published in March 2022) is a publication by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for the classification of mental disorders using a common langu ...
'' classified the term in 2000 under DSM-IV TR code 302.9 and in the
International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems
The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is a globally used diagnostic tool for epidemiology, health management and clinical purposes. The ICD is maintained by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is the directing and coordinat ...
under
ICD-10
ICD-10 is the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD), a medical classification list by the World Health Organization (WHO). It contains codes for diseases, signs and symptoms ...
code F65.9.Levine 2010, p. 407. ''The Dictionary of Psychology'' categorized somnophilia within the classification of predatory paraphilias.Corsini 2001, p. 747.
Treatment
Physicians have attempted to treat somnophilia with forms of
psychotherapy
Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome prob ...
, as well as with medications used for
pedophilia
Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty ...
. However,
James Cantor
James M. Cantor is an American-Canadian clinical psychologist and sexologist specializing in hypersexuality and paraphilias.
A former senior scientist with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto,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
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generally ...
." Somnophilia rises to the level of
diagnosis
Diagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of a certain phenomenon. Diagnosis is used in many different disciplines, with variations in the use of logic, analytics, and experience, to determine "cause and effect". In systems enginee ...
when it causes "significant impairment", specifically, when the individual performing the sex act does so with a partner who does not give their consent.
In popular culture
Somnophilia has presented itself as a recurring phenomenon in
popular culture
Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
, including in the
French film
French cinema consists of the film industry and its film productions, whether made within the nation of France or by French film production companies abroad. It is the oldest and largest precursor of national cinemas in Europe; with primary influ ...
influenced by
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
movies, '' Who Killed Bambi?'' (french: Qui a tué Bambi ?).Ferguson 2010, p. 156. The plot of the
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...
involves a surgeon who drugs his female patients in order to rape them. The assailant resorts to
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...
after one of the women wakes up from her unconscious state as he begins to remove her clothing. The title character attempts to warn the board of directors at the hospital of the murderer's activity.
Psychology Today
''Psychology Today'' is an American media organization with a focus on psychology and human behavior. It began as a bimonthly magazine, which first appeared in 1967. The ''Psychology Today'' website features therapy and health professionals direc ...