Psychopathia Sexualis

{{Short description|1886 book by Richard von Krafft-Ebing}}

{{title language|la}}

{{about|the book by Richard von Krafft-Ebing}}

{{More citations needed|date=July 2018}}

File:Krafft-Ebing Psychopathia sexualis 1886.jpg

{{lang|la|Psychopathia Sexualis}}: {{lang|de|eine klinisch-forensische Studie}} (Sexual Psychopathy: A Clinical-Forensic Study, also known as {{lang|la|Psychopathia Sexualis}}, with Especial Reference to the Antipathetic Sexual Instinct: A Medico-forensic Study) is an 1886 book by Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing and one of the first texts about sexual pathology. The book details a wide range of paraphilias and focuses on male homosexuality/bisexuality (the "antipathetic instinct" of the subtitle). The book coined the terms "sadism and masochism" as well as borrowing the term "bisexual" from botanical nomenclature.

Masochism, which {{langr|de|Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing}} focuses on at length, is, for example, defined as a particular erotic sensibility, in which the individual is, "in his sexual feelings and thoughts, dominated by the idea of being absolutely and unconditionally subjected to a person of the other sex".{{Cite book |last=Krafft-Ebing |first=Richard von |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/708370438 |title={{lang|fr|Les formes du masochisme Psychopathologie de la vie sexuelle|cat=no}} (I) |year=2010 |publisher=Éd. Payot & Rivages |others=Dimitry Stefanowsky, André Béjin, Normandie roto impr.) |isbn=978-2-228-90571-8 |volume=1 |location=Paris |pages=121–122 |oclc=708370438}}

The {{lang|la|Psychopathia Sexualis}} is notable for being one of the earliest works on homosexuality. Krafft-Ebing combined Karl Heinrich Ulrichs' Urning theory with Bénédict Morel's theory of social degeneration and proposed the theory that most homosexuals have a mental illness caused by degenerate heredity.

The book had a considerable influence on continental European forensic psychiatry in the first part of the 20th century. It is regarded as an important text in the history of psychopathology.{{cite journal|first=Jens|last=De Vleminck|title=Sadism and Masochism on the Procrustean Bed of Hysteria: From Psychopathia Sexualis to Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality|journal=Psychoanalysis and History|date=2017|volume=19|issue=3|page=381|doi=10.3366/pah.2017.0232|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|location=Edinburgh, Scotland|url=https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/6984879|hdl=1854/LU-6984879|hdl-access=free}}{{Subscription required}}

In 2006, an independent film based on the book was made in Atlanta; the film was titled Psychopathia Sexualis.{{cite web|title=Psychopathia Sexualis|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/psychopathia_sexualis_2006/|accessdate=July 16, 2014|work=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Flixster}}