Masochism is considered a sexual psychopathology.
Masochism basically involves getting sexual gratification from pain, suffering and or humiliation. Masochists enjoy things as diverse as being whipped, beaten, shocked, cut, pierced and/or verbally abused.
Masochists require the type of activites described above (pain or humiliation) to function sexually.
Most masochists begin having fantasies about these activities in childhood or adolescence and begin having these types of sexual encounters by early adulthood. Some masochists need to constantly increase the severity of their pain and/or humiliation over time - to the extent that the acts sometimes result in severe injury or death.
For example, the number one cause of teenage suicide is listed as strangulation. But that may not be accurate, as many of these strangulations were not suicides but autoerotic asphixiations. The first thing a family member does when coming accross a scene like that is remove evidence of the masochistic behavior. Some cop friends told me that the police do this routinely as well and list it as suicide to avoid embarassing the family.
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