Are people who take part in BDSM psychologically maladjusted?
The Myth
For people inexperienced and otherwise uninitiated in kink, the BDSM lifestyle may seem surreal. While a person who would consider themselves as “vanilla” (not kinky) may enjoy some hair pulling or light spanking, many see the image of BDSM as being whips, chains and bruises, and this makes them uneasy. From my research, the common consensus from many vanilla people trying to sum up their impressions of those who find excitement in those themes, as well as the vast array of other themes that make up the spectrum of what can be considered BDSM, is as follows: If you get enjoyment from hurting someone else, there must be something wrong with you. Some even go as far to classify a sadist as a psychopath. While in trying to come up with a way to portray masochists in order to fit their understanding of the world, they see people who enjoy pain as a way of facilitating a need to inflict self-harm due to depression or self-worth issues.
Looking at the BDSM lifestyle from an inward approach, and evaluating the reasons why people chose to exchange power rolls from the perspective of someone who engages it, you can see a much more knowledge based conclusion of why someone would want to inflict pain on a consenting person, or why someone would choose to allow another person to inflict pain upon them.
The first thing I would like to address is the idea that a sadist wants to hurt everyone they can and does so on non-consenting people. (No, R.) This statement is incredibly ignorant. Not only does the BDSM community uphold a strong commitment to respecting the consent of individuals participating in power exchange, but to even get to the point of negotiating what may or may not happen during a BDSM scene, first there must be a connection or reason for the sadist to have the desire to inflict pain on that particular person. The goal is typically to invoke a physical and emotional response from the sensation and for most sadists, there must be some chemistry between them and the person receiving the sensations.
On the other end of the power exchange, you find the masochists and the submissives. These two types of classifications are often paired together in an individual, but this is not always the case. A masochist can enjoy pain without submitting to a Dominant, and a submissive can enjoy the act of offering a Dominant their submission without desiring the sensation of pain. Both of these classifications have their own reasons for existing in a person and while it is not fair to say that a person is into BDSM because of some past trauma or mental health issue, it can absolutely be stated that BDSM can be cathartic and therapeutic for a person who experiences depression, or PTSD.
From my research I have found that of the studies that have been conducted to assess the mental health of people who engage in BDSM compared to those who do not, the people who do partake generally score better results. One such study compared the BDSM practitioners and the control group on the Big Five personality traits. Neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and agreeableness. As well as on rejection sensitivity, relationship attachment styles, and subjective well-being or happiness (McGreal, s.).
It should be noted that there has not been a great deal of research on this topic, however of the research that has been done, people that practice BDSM generally have better mental health.
As a final note, I want to say that any statements made about people who practice BDSM and those who don’t, are made regarding the majority of the people in those groups and not every single individual. Everyone is different and experiences things differently. While it’s possible that some of the legitimate psychopaths of the world also practice BDSM, this does not equate their tendencies as being because of BDSM. The same thing goes for people who enjoy receiving pain or chose to submit to a Dominant figure. Anyone can experience depression regardless of their age, gender, sexuality, religious views or any other classification you can assign.
Work Cited
McGreal, Scott A. “BDSM, Personality and Mental Health.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 25 July 2013, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/unique-everybody-else/201307/bdsm-personality-and-mental-health.
No last name given, Rachael. “Do BDSM Practitioners Suffer from a Mental Health Problem?” Arizona Mental Health Helpline, 7 Aug. 2017, www.arizonamentalhealthhelpline.com/blog/mental-health/bdsm-practitioners-suffer-mental-health-problem/.