Esophageal rupture through extreme sadomasochistic practice.

We report the case of a woman in her thirties who suffered an esophageal rupture while participating in extreme sadomasochistic practices. After herself seeking help in a hospital for complaints alleged to be from a fall, she was initially diagnosed with several broken ribs and a pneumothorax. The cause of the pneumothorax was later discovered to be an esophageal rupture. When confronted with this atypical injury for a fall, the woman admitted to have accidentally swallowed an inflatable gag, which her partner had afterwards inflated. In addition to the esophageal rupture, the patient also had numerous other externally visible injuries of various ages, reportedly also from sadomasochistic acts. Although an in-depth police investigation was conducted and a "slave contract" was found, the woman's consent to the extreme sexual practices performed by her life partner could not be substantiated conclusively. The man was convicted for intentional infliction of serious as well as dangerous bodily injury and sentenced to a long term in prison.

The correlation between sadomasochists' experience and their sadomasochistic behaviors and fantasies: A qualitative analysis of interviews.

Lacking a comprehensive understanding of sadomasochism makes difficulties in judicial dispositions, clinical interventions, and mental health services. This study explores the correlation between sadomasochists' growth experience and their sadomasochistic behaviors and fantasies. We interviewed 51 sadomasochists from a Chinese subcultural website, coded and analyzed the interview records, conducted correlation and cluster analyses on the reference points of the nodes of impressive experience and sadomasochistic behaviors and fantasies, and constructed the model of Experience-Behaviors and Fantasies. We found that sadomasochists' typical impressive experiences are family parenting and sexual experience; sadomasochistic behaviors and fantasies can be classified into five categories: spirit, punishment, sex, canine, and excretion; and sadomasochistic behaviors and fantasies are partially correlated with sadomasochists' impressive experiences, indicating psychoanalytic theory is the leading theory for the driving processes of sadomasochism, while behaviorist and Gestalt theories also contribute.

"No one can hate you more than I do": The perverse interplay of life and death drives in Roman Polanski's film Bitter Moon.

In this paper, the authors explore the depiction of perversion and the associated interplay of life and death drives in Roman Polanski's 1992 film Bitter Moon. To begin with, a theoretical discussion is presented regarding perverse organizations of mastery and sadomasochism. Perversion is viewed as an expression of the death drive under erotic disguise, in which the destructive fingerprint of the death drive is revealed at every stage, having as its ultimate purpose the destruction of the other. Based on these theoretical insights a dialogue is developed with Polanski's film, which brings to life the theory of sadomasochistic relations through the multidimensional aesthetic medium of cinema. It is shown how Polanski's cinematic oeuvre conveys the essence of the difficult and complex experience of perverse relations, where the life and death drives and their transformations are manifested. The portrayal of the sadomasochistic relations in this film contributes to the experiential knowledge with which the authors promote insight that would potentially enrich the clinical work with patients with perverse organizations.

"Classifying D/s Profiles Without Prior Assumptions: An Application of Cluster Analysis to Social Data".

Dominant/submissive role-play (D/s) is associated with specialized roles including Mistress, Master, Slave, Switch, Sadist, and Masochist. The current study uses cluster analysis to provide empirical evidence that no binary opposition or single spectrum constitutes a workable typology of individuals based on their affinities for these roles. The optimality of a particular choice of clustering scheme, including the number of clusters, is established using a replication technique which is presented in detail. A large number (n = 236,353) of individualized results (profiles) generated by the BDSM Test, a popular anonymous web survey, were analyzed. We hypothesize a two-dimensional typology of D/s profiles as the inferential result of our cluster analyses.

A metapsychological framework for sadomasochism.

The authors present a summary of sadomasochism, its centrality in all pathology and the difficulties encountered by all analysts in working with sadomasochism. An integrative model is presented with determinants and manifestations from all phases of development, including the transmission of pathology between generations. Addiction to pain and the formation of hostile omnipotent beliefs are described as components of sadomasochism that explain how resistant sadomasochism is to change and growth. The emergent idea of two systems of self-regulation is presented and its utility for technique is described. Specific focus on developmental aspects offers therapists developmental markers they can use in clinical work.

The Narcissistic dynamics of submission: the attraction of the powerless to authoritarian leaders.

Ferenczi's conception of identification with the aggressor, which describes children's typical response to traumatic assaults by family members, provides a remarkably good framework to understand mass social and economic trauma. In the moment of trauma, children instinctively submit and comply with what abusers want-not just in behavior but in their perceptions, thoughts, and emotions-in order to survive the assault; afterwards they often continue to comply, out of fear that the family will turn its back on them. Notably, a persistent tendency to identify with the aggressor is also typical in children who have been emotionally abandoned by narcissistically self-preoccupied parents, even when there has not been gross trauma. Similarly, large groups of people who are economically or culturally dispossessed by changes in their society typically respond by submitting and complying with the expectations of a powerful figure or group, hoping they can continue to belong-just like children who are emotionally abandoned by their families. Not surprisingly, emotional abandonment, both in individual lives and on a mass scale, is typically felt as humiliating; and it undermines the sense that life is meaningful and valuable.But the intolerable loss of belonging and of the feeling of being a valuable person often trigger exciting, aggressive, compensatory fantasies of specialness and entitlement. On the large scale, these fantasies are generally authoritarian in nature, with three main dynamics-sadomasochism, paranoid-schizoid organization, and the manic defense-plus a fourth element: the feeling of emotional truth that follows narcissistic injury, that infuses the other dynamics with a sense of emotional power and righteousness. Ironically, the angry attempt to reassert one's entitlements ends up facilitating compliance with one's oppressors and undermining the thoughtful, effective pursuit of realistic goals.

Dark personalities and general masochistic tendencies: Their relationships to giving and receiving sexualized pain.

Recent research has shown that a tendency to harm others goes hand in hand with a tendency to harm oneself. The present two studies further supported the notion that the joy of harming others and oneself has a common core by showing positive relationships between dark personality traits (particularly psychopathy) and sexual masochistic preferences and between general masochistic tendencies and sexual sadistic preferences. Despite the overlap between dark personality traits and general masochistic tendencies, they independently predicted the engagement in sexual sadomasochism. These relationships statistically held when controlling for the impact of basic personality (Study 1). Study 2 found that self-enhancement, openness to change, and low conservation values serve as motivators for a person's attraction to sexual sadomasochism and shed some light on the differences between sexual sadomasochism and the Dark Tetrad. Overall, people who score relatively high on dark personalities and masochism are particularly predisposed to engage in sexual sadomasochism, in both the dominant and the submissive roles.

Rectal explosion: a strange case of autoerotic death.

Autoerotic deaths refer to fatalities occurring during individual, solitary sexual activity, in which some device, situation, or act is used to gain or boost the sexual arousal of the subject. Anorectal autoeroticism is an autoerotic paraphilic activity that pertains to the self-insertion of various objects into the anal canal and rectal cavity to gain or heighten the subject's sexual drive. Although most foreign bodies inserted into the rectum do not cause significant injury, the introduction of some objects into the rectum might have unpredictable and even fatal effects. In this paper, we describe an intriguing autoerotic case of a 35-year-old male who sustained an explosive rectal trauma as a result of the unanticipated bursting of an expandable rubber pipe stopper that he inserted into his rectum and hyperinflated via an air blow gun connected through a pressure pipe to a centralized air-distribution system. The man sustained a circular abruption of the rectum with partial avulsion of the abdominal wall, associated with bleeding into the abdominal cavity and chest wall, and died before admission to the hospital. A police investigation revealed that the victim was a regular contributor to several web forums dedicated to unusual sexual activities. This case raises awareness of the broadening spectrum of methods and experiments associated with autoerotic behavior. We also reviewed the literature pertaining to this topic and outlined some of the characteristics of atypical autoerotic deaths. Although certain autoerotic methods are relatively common, other unusual autoerotic techniques may present novel challenges within the medicolegal field.

Risking sexuality beyond consent: overwhelm and traumatisms that incite.

What, other than being "screwed," may come of being subjected to something we did not entirely, or even at all, consent to? This essay explores what awaits sexual urges that risk pushing beyond the confines of affirmative consent and into limit consent. Taking up why one might court experiences that chafe against the limit, I suggest that such courting draws on the sexual drive. Via Aulagnier, Laplanche, and Zaltzman I track how the sexual drive may annex traumatic history. These annexations present themselves as traumatic repetitions but may work, at times, to spin compulsive recursions into traumatisms that can incite transformative psychic labor. To probe these ideas more deeply and flesh out the mechanics of why experiences that occur at the border of our consent can have transformative potential, I turn to Jeremy O. Harris's searingly beautiful theatrical work, Slave Play, to propose that pleasure suffered at the especially strained intersection of sexuality and racial trauma may produce traumatisms that dissolve ego structures in growth-inducing ways. While seemingly merely repeating ghastly historical crimes, erotic humiliation and racialized sexual abjection, work here to yield and make overatures to expanded psychic freedoms. Because there is no return to a pre-traumatic state for traumatized subjects, I propose that we become less preoccupied as analysts with what can be done about trauma and more curious about what can be done with trauma shifting, thus, psychoanalysis's attitude towards trauma from traumatophobia to traumatophilia.

Vivencias de las prácticas sexuales asociadas al BDSM: los límites contemplados dentro de lo Sano, Seguro y Consensuado / Experiences of sexual practices associated with BDSM: the limits contemplated within the bounds of what is Healthy, Safe and Consensual

Resumen Las prácticas sexuales BDSM relacionadas con el sadomasoquismo, la dominación y la sumisión, representan un abanico vasto de posibilidades en cuanto a parafernalia, emociones asociadas y usos tan diversos como los seres humanos que lo practican. Debido a esto, realizamos un estudio para entender las prácticas sexuales relacionadas al BDSM, bajo la mirada de sus propios practicantes. Para ello se empleó una metodología cualitativa con un tipo de diseño emergente y proyectado. Se realizaron 8 entrevistas a profundidad a hombres y mujeres en Venezuela, se analizaron los datos a través del método de comparación constante con el fin de generar teoría fundamentada. Este artículo surge como parte de los resultados de un estudio mayor. Entre los hallazgos más resaltantes se encontró la importancia a los límites, algunos como irrefutables y otros que se intentan traspasar y lo primordial de la práctica en condiciones de salud física y mental.

Abstract BDSM sexual practices related to sadomasochism, domination and submission, represent a vast range of possibilities in terms of paraphernalia, associated emotions, uses and applications that are as diverse as the human beings who practice it. Taking this into account, we conducted a study to understand the practices related to BDSM, under the perspective of its own practitioners. For this, a qualitative methodology was used, with an emergent and projected type of design. We covered 8 in-depth interviews on men and women from Venezuela and the data was analyzed through the constant comparison method in order to generate grounded theory, this paper comes up as part of a larger study. Among the most outstanding findings were the importance of limits, some as irrefutable an others that are meant to break, and the importance of the physical and mental health conditions in the practice.

Bondage-Discipline, Dominance-Submission and Sadomasochism (BDSM) From an Integrative Biopsychosocial Perspective: A Systematic Review.

INTRODUCTION: BDSM (bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadism and masochism) increasingly receives attention from the scientific community. Where earlier research efforts mainly focused on epidemiologic characteristics, psychological and biologic factors driving BDSM preferences have recently gained interest as well. AIM: To bring together all the existing scientific literature on BDSM from a biopsychosocial perspective. METHODS: Based on the PRISMA guidelines, the current systematic review brings together all the existing literature on BDSM from a biopsychosocial perspective. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Prevalence rates of BDSM interests were investigated in the literature, as well as the associations between BDSM interests on one hand and personality traits, adverse childhood experiences, education levels, sexual orientations and biological markers on the other. RESULTS: Biologic factors such as gender identity, sex hormone levels, and the neurologic constitution of the brain's pain and reward systems influence BDSM orientation. With regard to psychological factors, both personality traits (eg, higher levels of openness or extraversion) and the presence of a personality disorder have been associated with a heightened interest in BDSM, although only limited supporting evidence is available. Additionally, sensation-seeking levels and impulsivity seem to contribute, because they presumably guide one's drive to explore new or more-intense kinks. Whereas attachment styles impact couple dynamics, they also influence willingness to explore limits in a BDSM context. Lastly, education levels impact relational and sexual dynamics. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS: The limitations of the current review reflect those of the topical scientific literature. Although the number of studies focused on all aspects of BDSM is exponentially growing, most of these are only descriptive, and very few focus on underlying driving processes. CONCLUSION: From this biopsychosocial perspective, we offer a dimensional approach while integrating the factors driving the onset and evolution of BDSM interests. De Neef N, Coppens V, Huys W, et al. Bondage-Discipline, Dominance-Submission and Sadomasochism (BDSM) From an Integrative Biopsychosocial Perspective: A Systematic Review. Sex Med 2019;7:129-144.

The Draw to Overwhelm: Consent, Risk, and the Retranslation of Enigma.

The concept of affirmative consent presumes a subject who is fully transparent to herself and who can anticipate the precise effects of her assent. This essay proposes limit consent, a concept that offers us different ways to think about the sexual-and about the analytic encounter. Limit consent involves a more nuanced negotiation of limits and becomes possible when the subject makes herself passible (Lyotard 1988) to an other-a condition that is neither active nor passive. Processes described in depth here suggest that passibility has ties to the rousing of infantile sexuality (Freud) and to the subject's normative perversity (Laplanche). When the psychic economy of the infantile sexual is followed to its apex, a particular kind of state is produced that I call overwhelm-a word that is used here as a noun. Overwhelm is a state of dysregulation that can be confused with, but is not the same as, repetition compulsion. Overwhelm entails risk, and under some circumstances it may open up space toward significant psychic transformations. A detailed clinical example illustrates how overwhelm may make itself known in the clinical encounter, and how it can infiltrate the transference/countertransference. Specific technical suggestions are made regarding analytic work with overwhelm.

A "Different Economy of Bodies and Pleasures"?: Differentiating and Evaluating Sex and Sexual BDSM Experiences.

This study examines how BDSM participants understand sexual experiences. Data are drawn from 32 in-depth, semistructured interviews and discussion-board threads from a large BDSM community Web site. The analysis suggests that many BDSM participants perceive sexual BDSM experiences as not only significantly different from but also better than mainstream or "vanilla" sex. Three primary differentiation mechanisms are identified. First, BDSM participants constructed sex as requiring genital contact, while framing sexual BDSM as creating sexual fulfillment not requiring normative indicators of sexual experiences (e.g., orgasm). Second, participants constructed sexual BDSM as centered on emotional and mental experiences, while perceiving sex as being centered on physical experiences. Third, participants perceived sexual BDSM experiences as facilitating deeper interpersonal connections than those available in sex. Importantly, these mechanisms serve not only a differentiating but also an evaluative function. Most participants in this study reported a strong preference for sexual BDSM over sex.

Arte e Psicopatologia: a defesa sadomasoquista e a transcendência do mal. Um enigma que reúne a vida e a obra de Franz Kafka / Art and psychopathology: the sadomasochistic defense and the transcendence of evil. An enigma that brings together the life and work of Franz Kafka. A study of Jungian Symbolic Psychopathology / Arte y psicopatología: la defensa sadomasoquista y la rrascendencia del mal. Un enigma que reúne la vida y la obra de Franz Kafka. Un estudio de la Psicopatología Simbólica Junguiana

O autor, dentro do referencial teórico da Psicologia Simbólica Junguiana, estuda a relação da Arte com a Psicopatologia e situa o sadomasoquismo como a defesa central dos relacionamentos humanos. Postula a sua formação através da fixação das identificações parentais, que inclui o vínculo entre mãe e pai e as reações do Ego a eles. Esta fixação envolve a interação da função estruturante do amor (afeto e agressividade) com a função estruturante do poder (obediência e comando). O autor ilustra estes conceitos na vida e na obra de Franz Kafka, descrevendo a identificação do seu Ego na Consciência dominantemente com o afeto delicado, sensível e introvertido do seu complexo materno positivo, e do seu Ego na Sombra com a passividade covarde e masoquista do seu complexo materno negativo. Descreve também a identificação do Outro na Consciência dominantemente com a exuberância vital, a produtividade e a dedicação ao trabalho e à família do seu complexo paterno positivo e do seu Outro na Sombra com a agressividade egocêntrica, sádica, prepotente e extrovertida do seu complexo paterno negativo. A resultante desta grave fixação foi uma relação sadomasoquista da polaridade Ego-Outro na sua personalidade, claramente expressa na sua famosa Carta ao Pai e na maior parte de sua obra, inclusive na sua ordem para que fosse destruída junto com seus diários. Byington conclui mencionando alguns aspectos da relação entre Arte e Psicopatologia e postula que o Arquétipo Central abrange os complexos fixados do sistema defensivo da Sombra, mas busca ultrapassá-los na autorrealização criativa do Processo de Individuação. No caso de Kafka, isto não aconteceu no Self Individual, mas realizou-se vigorosamente através da imagem arquetípica da ressurreição no Self Cultural. ■

Within the conceptual framework of Jungian Symbolic Psychology, the author studies the relationship between Art and Psychopathology and considers sadomasochism to be the defensive core of all psychological relationships. He postulates its formation mainly through the fixation of the Ego-Other polarity in the primary negative parental identifications, including the meaning of the relationship between father and mother and the reactions of the ego towards them. This fixation involves the interaction between the structuring function of love (affection and aggression) and that of power (obedience and control). The author illustrates these concepts in the life and work of Franz Kafka, describing his ego's identification in consciousness predominantly with the gentle, affectionate and sensitive introversion of his positive mother complex and of his ego in the shadow with the masochistic cowardly passivity of his negative mother complex. He also describes the identification of the other in consciousness predominantly with the vital exuberance, the productivity and the dedication to work and to the family of his positive father complex, and of the other in the shadow dominantly with sadistic egocentric and aggressive extroversion of his negative father complex. The result of this severe fixation was a sadomasochist relationship of the ego-other polarity in his personality expressed clearly in the famous letter to his father and in most of his work, including his wish to destroy it. Byington concludes by mentioning some aspects of the relationship between art and psychopathology and postulates that the Central Archetype encompasses the fixated complexes of the shadow's defensive system, and tries to go beyond them in the creative self-realization of the individuation process. In the case of Kafka, this could not occur in the individual Self, but was realized through the archetypal image of resurrection in the cultural Self. ■

El autor, dentro del referencial teórico de la Psicología Simbólica Junguiana, estudia la relación del Arte con la Psicopatología y sitúa el sadomasoquismo como la defensa central de las relaciones humanas. Postula su formación a través de la fijación de las identificaciones parentales, que incluye el vínculo entre madre y padre y las reacciones del Ego a ellos. Esta fijación implica la interacción de la función estructurante del amor (afecto y agresividad) con la función estructurante del poder (obediencia y mando). El autor ilustra estos conceptos en la vida y obra de Franz Kafka, describiendo la identificación de su Ego en la Conciencia dominante con el afecto delicado, sensible e introvertido de su complejo materno positivo, y de su Ego en la Sombra con la pasividad cobarde y masoquista su complejo materno negativo. Describe también la identificación del Otro en la Conciencia dominante con la exuberancia vital, la productividad y la dedicación al trabajo y a la familia de su complejo paterno positivo y de su Otro en la Sombra con la agresividad egocéntrica, sádica, prepotente y extrovertida de su complejo paterno negativo. La resultante de esta grave fijación fue una relación sadomasoquista de la polaridad Ego-Otro en su personalidad, claramente expresada en su famosa Carta al Padre y en la mayor parte de su obra, incluso en su orden para que fuera destruida junto con sus diarios. Byington concluye mencionando algunos aspectos de la relación entre Arte y Psicopatología y postula que el Arquetipo Central abarca los complejos fijados del sistema defensivo de la Sombra, pero busca sobrepasarlos en la autorrealización creativa del Proceso de Individuación. En el caso de Kafka, esto no sucedió en el Self Individual, pero se realizó vigorosamente a través de la imagen arquetípica de la resurrección en el Self Cultural. ■

The construction of sadomasochism: Vicissitudes of attachment and mentalization.

This paper integrates empirical developmental research with the clinical theory and treatment of sadomasochism. Three strands of argument illustrate the thesis that sadomasochistic relatedness develops from relational procedures originating in the mother-infant dyad. The first strand involves attachment research including data from infancy to adulthood and videotaped microanalyses of infant-mother dyads. The second strand addresses research on mentalization and its relationship to attachment. These strands suggest that sadomasochistic relatedness exists on continua from minor to severe as attachment modes move from secure to insecure to disorganized, and from the capacities for mentalized to prementalized recognition of the self and other. Specific relational procedural models representing insecure and disorganized attachment involve the regulation of contradictory emotions, motives, and messages conveyed through varied sensory modalities. These models suggest dissociative procedural ways of being with the other and managing internal states. They are incorporated into and shaped by later development. The third strand uses a clinical case to deepen these constructs, and illustrate the use of knowledge from infant research in work with adults. The discussion addresses the relationship of mother-infant interactions with sadomasochism and how sadomasochistic procedural relational models may contribute to the formation of sadomasochistic relatedness at different developmental levels.

BDSM Role Fluidity: A Mixed-Methods Approach to Investigating Switches Within Dominant/Submissive Binaries.

This mixed-methods study of BDSM investigates the nuances of BDSM participants' role identities, role frequencies, and role fluidities-shifts in identities and play across time, location, scene, and play partner. Data were gathered from 202 online surveys and 25 semistructured interviews about participants' roles given their gender and sexual identities. These data reveal that men tend to self-identify as Dominant, Master, Top, or Sadist (DMTS) and always perform dominant roles, while women tend to self-identify as Submissive, Slave, Bottom, or Masochist (SSBM) and always perform submissive roles. Although this would seem to support the theory that BDSM reinforces gendered dominant/submissive binaries, further analyses indicate that women and queer/pansexual individuals disrupt this binary through their Switch identities and roles. Switching and queer identities, thus, offer the possibility for transforming dominant/submissive and other binaries.

The Sadomasochism Checklist: A Tool for the Assessment of Sadomasochistic Behavior.

Various scientific disciplines devoted to the study of sexual behavior are concerned with the understanding of sadomasochistic (SM) practices. However, only a fragmented body of theories, opinions, and studies is available, which limits the systematic study of this field. Empirical studies and tools for the assessment of SM tendencies are particularly sparse. Our aim was to develop a comprehensive tool for the assessment of an individual's engagement in SM practices. A comprehensive 24-item checklist of different types of SM play was generated with the assistance of members of the German SM community, covering both a dominance scale and a submission scale. The sadomasochism checklist was administered in an online study to a sample of 652 adults (345 female, 307 male), with 527 participants being active members in the SM community. Both the frequency of SM behavior and the attraction to the types of SM practices were assessed. Results revealed a one-factor structure for the dominance as well as the submission scale. The distinction between different types of practices (soft play, domination/submission, beating, toys, breath and bodily fluids) was confirmed using principal component analysis. Cronbach's alpha was appropriate. The total scores for the dominance and the submission scale distinguish between participants with different preferences for dominant and submissive practices. The newly developed scale is a reliable and valid tool for the assessment of the frequency of and attraction to SM behavior. It aims to provide the basis for future systematic studies on sadomasochism.

Extreme rituals in a BDSM context: the physiological and psychological effects of the 'Dance of Souls'.

Participation in extreme rituals (e.g., fire-walking, body-piercing) has been documented throughout history. Motivations for such physically intense activities include religious devotion, sensation-seeking and social bonding. The present study aims to explore an extreme ritual within the context of bondage/discipline, dominance/submission and sadism/masochism (BDSM): the 'Dance of Souls', a 160-person ritual involving temporary piercings with weights or hooks attached and dancing to music provided by drummers. Through hormonal assays, behavioural observations and questionnaires administered before, during and after the Dance, we examine the physiological and psychological effects of the Dance, and the themes of spirituality, connectedness, transformation, release and community reported by dancers. From before to during the Dance, participants showed increases in physiological stress (measured by the hormone cortisol), self-reported sexual arousal, self-other overlap and decreases in psychological stress and negative affect. Results suggest that this group of BDSM practitioners engage in the Dance for a variety of reasons, including experiencing spirituality, deepening interpersonal connections, reducing stress and achieving altered states of consciousness.

Is Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, and Sadomasochism Recreational Leisure? A Descriptive Exploratory Investigation.

INTRODUCTION: Recent studies have suggested that, in contrast to traditional psychopathologic explanations, bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadomasochism (BDSM) could be understood as recreational leisure. However, the theoretical framing of BDSM as potential leisure has not been empirically explored. AIM: To conduct an initial empirical exploration to determine whether BDSM experience fits established characteristics of recreational leisure. METHODS: A convenience sample of BDSM participants (N = 935) completed an online survey (9 demographic questions and 17 leisure questions) that assessed BDSM experience according to important attributes of leisure. Responses also were assessed and statistically compared as being primarily casual or serious leisure according to general BDSM identities (ie, dominants vs submissives vs switches). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: BDSM experiences were assessed as a form of potential leisure. RESULTS: Most BDSM experiences met leisure criteria. Participants reported that "most of the time or nearly always" BDSM was associated with a sense of personal freedom (89.7% of participants), pleasure or enjoyment (98.5%), sense of adventure (90.7%), use of personal skills (90.8%), relaxation or decreased stress (91.4%), self-expression or exploration (90.6%), and positive emotions (96.6%). BDSM seemed to function as primarily serious, rather than casual, leisure, but important statistical differences were observed based on specific BDSM identities. CONCLUSION: A leisure science perspective could be valuable to researchers and clinicians in reinterpreting the wide range of diverse BDSM motivations and practices.

THE OBJECT-PRESERVING FUNCTION OF SADOMASOCHISM.

The terms sadism, masochism, and sadomasochism seem to have become increasingly, if loosely, associated with aggression in psychoanalytic discourse. This is due in part to the fact that Freud's changing ideas generated confusion about the relative contributions of libido and aggression. The author reviews Freud's variable usage and offers a clinical vignette to illustrate the importance of noticing how sadomasochism may maintain a tie to the object by controlling it. The author offers a developmental speculation for the role reversibility typical of sadomasochistic manifestations. He closes with a comment on the role of sadomasochistic aims in adult sexual perversion.