Editing Algolagnia

{{Short description|Core tendency of sadomasochism}}
[[File:BDSM Wartenberg wheel.jpg|thumb|[[Wartenberg wheel]] pain stimulation of the areola and nipple]]
'''Algolagnia''' ({{IPAc-en|æ|l|ɡ|ə|ˈ|l|æ|ɡ|n|i|ə}}; from {{langx|el|ἄλγος}}, ''álgos'', "pain", and {{langx|el|λαγνεία}}, ''lagneía'', "lust") is a sexual tendency which is defined by deriving [[sexual pleasure]] and stimulation from physical [[pain]],<ref name="gnnax"/> often involving an [[erogenous zone]]. Studies conducted indicate differences in how the brains of those with algolagnia interpret nerve input.<ref name="gnnax" />

==History of research==
In 1892, [[Albert von Schrenck-Notzing]] introduced the term algolagnia to describe "sexual" [[masochism]], to differentiate it from [[Charles Féré]]'s earlier term called "algophilia"; Schrenck-Notzing's interpretation was that algolagnia involved ''[[lust]]'', not ''love'' as Fere interpreted the phenomenon.<ref name="forens"/> (It should be cautioned, though, that the definitions regarding sadism and masochism as medical terms have changed over the years (as also noted in the main article for that topic) and are still evolving,<ref name="forens" /> and there are also non-medical definitions of [[sadomasochism]].) However, Krafft-Ebing's theories in [[Psychopathia Sexualis (Richard von Krafft-Ebing book)|''Psychopathia Sexualis'']] – where the terms sadism and masochism were used – were adopted by Sigmund Freud and became an integral part of [[psychoanalysis]], thereby ensuring their predominance over the concept of "algolagnia".

The neurologist Albert Eulenberg was another one of the first researchers to look into algolagnia,<ref name="forens" /> in the 1902 ''Sadismus und Masochismus'' (Sadism and Masochism). Soon thereafter, [[Havelock Ellis]] also looked into algolagnia, in the early 1900s, and stated "Sadism and Masochism – Algolagnia Includes Both Groups of Manifestations"<ref name="guten"/> but maintained that enjoyment of pain was restricted to an erotic context,<ref>Ellis, Havelock. 1967; first published 1939. My Life London: Spearman.</ref> in contrast to Krafft-Ebing's interpretations. With such titles as ''Analysis of the Sexual Impulse, Love and Pain, The Sexual Impulse in Women'' and ''The Evolution of Modesty, The Phenomena of Sexual Periodicity, Auto-Erotism'', Ellis described the basics of the condition. [[Eugen Kahn]], [[Smith Ely Jelliffe]], [[William Alanson White]], and [[Hugh Northcote]] were other early psychological researchers into algolagnia.

==Research==
In 1992, algolagnia was described as a physical phenomenon in which the brain interprets pain signals as pleasurable leading to psychological effects.<ref name="alpha"/>{{Page needed|date=September 2010}}{{Or|NOTE that a search of the book on googlebooks for the keywords 'physical' & 'psychological' yielded no results, but those words were used in the last sentence; also, on the Talk page, the editor who originally added this source gave 'facts' which conflict with expert sources, hence the suspected potential of WP:OR...thus it should be checked for misinterpretation similar to a {{Cite check|date=November 2009}}, but for this item rather than as a {{Cite check|date=November 2009}} Template for entire article.|date=November 2009}} Dolf Zillmann wrote that:

<blockquote>...most algolagniacs see their actions as an active lust, not a motivational one. Patients with algolagnia could lead normal lives, enjoy normal arousal sequences, and indulge in fairly normal [[sexual intercourse]], but when exposed to sexual pain, were unable to control their reaction. One woman described it as being unable to prevent her arousal or subsequent orgasm due to pain, even if she was not aroused when it began.<ref name="beta"/></blockquote>

This and other research <ref name ="charlie"/> have linked algolagnia to aggression, [[hypersexuality]], or other control psychoses.

Research using MRI and [[Computer simulation|computer models]] of neuron firing patterns has shown that most algolagniacs experience pain differently from others. Algolagniacs may have DNA errors such as [[SCN9A]], causing inaccurate [[nociception]] to occur.<ref name="bookref1"/>

At least one researcher in the 1900s,<ref name="bookref2"/> [[Albert Freiherr von Schrenck-Notzing]], who was a self-professed sadist, thought that algolagnia was a [[Mental illness|psychological disorder]]. This view began to change once the [[Kinsey Reports]] noted that many seemingly normal people often enjoy pain in a sexual context, and later [[Norman Breslow]] found that, before 1977, only four previous studies in all the scientific literature were [[empirical]] in nature.<ref>Breslow Norman et al. 1985. "On the prevalence and roles of females in the sadomasochistic subculture: Report of an empirical study". In: Archives of Sexual Behavior Vol. 14</ref> One of the researchers whom Breslow cited as having empirically-valid work, Andres Spengler, concluded that earlier research was "heavily burdened with prejudice and ignorance"<ref>Duriès, Vanessa. 1993. Le Lien. Spengler {{ISBN|978-2-909997-03-2}}</ref> against those whose sexual practices were in the minority, falsely assuming behaviors to be [[pathological]] when in fact they were statistically abnormal, but harmless. In 1993 Thomas Wetzstein published a large-scale study of his local subculture from a sociological viewpoint, confirming Spengler's results and expanding on them.<ref>Wetzstein, Thomas A. 1993. Sadomasochismus. Szenen und Rituale. Hamburg: Rowohlt</ref>

No empirical study has found a connection to violent crimes or evidence for an increased tendency towards any sociopathological behavior in algolagnia or the related features of sexual sadomasochism, as had been generally assumed since Krafft-Ebing's era.{{citation needed |date=November 2015}}

The term algolagnia has fallen into rare usage, and there is no entry for it in the [[American Psychiatric Association]]'s [[DSM IV]]-TR.<ref>http://www.behavenet.com/algolagnia {{webarchive |url= https://www.behavenet.com/capsules/disorders/ |date=March 15, 2010 }}</ref> Inflicting pain on others has been termed "active algolagnia" and equated to the [[pathological]] form of [[Sadomasochism|sadism]] in Mosby's Medical Dictionary, which also equates the pathological form of masochism to "passive algolagnia",<ref>[http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Masochism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612093150/http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Masochism|date=2011-06-12}} and [http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Masochism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612093150/http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Masochism|date=2011-06-12}}</ref> but it cannot be a pathological (dangerous) [[paraphilia]] form of sadism or masochism unless it involves pain inflicted on "non-consenting" persons, or "cause[s] marked distress or interpersonal difficulty."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.behavenet.com/sexual-sadism |title=BehaveNet Clinical Capsule: Sexual Sadism |access-date=2009-10-25 }}</ref> And using algolagnia as both a pathological and non-pathological term, some in the modern research community still link it to some but not all [[BDSM]] activities.<ref name="forens" />

There is little ongoing research, with most neurophysiologists concentrating on neuropathological reasons for such reactions.<ref>Pg 197,''Therapeutic Suggestion in Psychopathia Sexualis with Special Reference''</ref>

==See also==
* [[Autosadism]]
* [[Male dominance (BDSM)|Maledom]]
* [[Mortification of the flesh]]
* [[Sexual masochism disorder]]

==Footnotes==
{{reflist|33em|refs=

<ref name="alpha">{{Cite book |last=Sullivan |first=Harry Stack |author-link=Harry Stack Sullivan |title=Clinical Studies in Psychiatry |year=1992 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-393-00688-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/clinicalstudiesi00sull }}</ref>

<ref name="beta">{{Cite book |last=Zillmann |first=Dolf |author-link=Dolf Zillmann |title=Connections Between Sexuality and Aggression |year=1998 |publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates |isbn=978-0-8058-1907-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/connectionsb_zill_1998_000_8501396 }}</ref>

<ref name="bookref1">{{Cite book|last=Bloch |first=Iwan |author-link=Iwan Block |title= The Sexual Life of Our Time: In Its Relations to Modern Civilization|year=2006|publisher=Kessinger Publishing |isbn=978-1-4286-1543-4 }}</ref>

<ref name="bookref2">{{Cite book |last=Von Schrenck -Notzin |first=A |title=Therapeutic Suggestion in Psychopathia Sexualis with Special Reference |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bbi_MFdFVM4C&q=%22schrenck+notzin%22+algolagnia+-wiki |year=2006 |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |isbn=978-1-4286-2544-0 |access-date=2021-08-16 |archive-date=2023-04-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419111755/https://books.google.com/books?id=bbi_MFdFVM4C&q=%22schrenck+notzin%22+algolagnia+-wiki |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="charlie">{{Cite book|last=Bancroft |first=John D.|author-link=John D. Bancroft |title= Human Sexuality and Its Problems|year=1989|publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences |isbn=978-0-443-03455-8 }}</ref>

<ref name="forens">[http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-5280370/The-pleasure-of-pain.html The pleasure of pain. {{pipe}} Goliath Business News] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091111023642/http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-5280370/The-pleasure-of-pain.html |date=November 11, 2009 }}</ref>

<ref name="gnnax">{{Cite book |last=Kelley |first=Kathryn |author-link=Kathryn Kelley |author2=Donn Byrne |title=Alternative Approaches to the Study of Sexual Behavior |year=1986 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/alternativeappro0000unse/page/13 13–38] |isbn=978-0-89859-677-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/alternativeappro0000unse/page/13 }}</ref>

<ref name="guten">[[gutenberg:13612|Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 3 by Havelock Ellis - Project Gutenberg]]</ref>
}}

==References==
{{commons category|Pain play}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060324222328/http://www.psyplexus.com/ellis/35.htm Ellis, on algolagnia]
* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924021843259/page/n202 <!-- quote=Algolagnia. --> A 1900s book on algolagnia]
* {{cite web
 |url=http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/en/pain/microsite/culture1.html 
 |title=Pain and the erotic 
 |author=Lesley Hall 
 |publisher=The Wellcome Trust 
 |access-date=2008-11-17 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217085120/http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/en/pain/microsite/culture1.html 
 |archive-date=17 December 2008 
 |url-status=dead 
}}
{{Wiktionary|algolagnia}}
{{paraphilia}}

[[Category:BDSM terminology]]
[[Category:Pain]]