Research indicates that BDSM can have positive mental health benefits
Psychology Today
by Michale Aaron, PhD.
As I’ve written about numerous times, I am a strong believer that when it comes to sexuality, the field of psychotherapy is moving away from a more authoritarian top-down lens (and I would consider sex addiction to fall into this category) to a more humanistic, harm reduction approach. To further along this body of work, I, along with colleagues Dulcinea Pitagora and Markie Twist, have initiated research to better understand the motivations and subjective experiences of individuals that engage in sexual behaviors that have historically been marginalized and pathologized.
More specifically, we are on the verge of completing a study on the differences between those who engage in high impact play as part of a BDSM scene and those who engage in non-suicidal self-injuring (NSSI) behaviors, and we are currently crunching the numbers. Our rationale for this study is that for many clinicians in the mental health field, those who engage in intense sensation play of BDSM (bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism) are often co-mingled and conflated with behaviors of those who engage in self-harming behavior. As a result, individuals who belong to the BDSM subculture are often pathologized and misunderstood in clinical settings, and so may find themselves without adequate psychological care.
Here is a brief overview of our methodology. We recruited subjects via online networks and professional listservs. Information was obtained from respondents via an online survey, consisting of roughly 12 qualitative questions about the individual’s motivation and experiences engaging in either BDSM or NSSI (or both), as well as three psychological instruments, the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale- Short Form (ECR-S), which measures attachment style: Adverse Childhood Experiences Scale (ACE), which measures level of childhood trauma; and The Big Five Inventory (BFI), which measures personality traits. The qualitative section asked about the individual’s motivation as well as subjective experiences before, during, and after engaging in self-injury, BDSM sensation play, or both.
Sample questions included (in the case of BDSM, but with different terminology for NSSI):
“?What are your expectations or motivations for engaging in intense sensation play?”
“What kinds of thoughts and feelings do you typically experience prior to intense sensation play?”
“What kinds of thoughts and feelings do you typically experience during intense sensation play?”
“?What kinds of thoughts and feelings do you typically experience after intense sensation play?”
“?How does intense sensation play affect how you feel in relation to others?”
?”How does intense sensation play affect how you feel about yourself?”
As we have begun to crunch our numbers, a variety of fascinating trends have emerged. First, the individuals that struggled with NSSI experienced overwhelming negative feeling states prior to self-injury, then felt a wave of relief and distraction, followed by deep regret and shame afterwards. The BDSM group however stated that they felt excitement and anticipation ahead of time, a sense of excitement and pleasure during the encounter, and a wave of deep connection to their partner afterward, as well as a stronger sense of self-empowerment and authenticity. …