Weaponized sex: Defensive pseudo-erotic aggression in the service of safety

ABSTRACT

Problematic sexual behaviors are frequently encountered in the treatment of patients suffering Dissociative Identity Disorder and related forms of dissociative disorders. These may include unfortunate patterns of ready acquiescence or submission to overtly or potentially aggressive or sexual approaches/encounters, subtle and/or overt seductive signaling and behaviors, and even overt sexually provocative patterns of verbalizations and actions. This paper discusses the possibility that in some instances, sexual behavior has become weaponized; that is, deployed in circumstances under which assertiveness and/or aggression or other self-protective measures might be expected, probably because such behaviors were not within the range of the possible or were not understood as potentially successful for some victims of trauma. Clinical manifestations are described and discussed. An animal model in which sexual behaviors substitute for aggressive behaviors is described. A speculative hypothesis is offered, postulating that in some cases, such patterns in traumatized humans might represent an epigenetic response to exogenous trauma. Exploration of this model may lead to improved understandings and approaches to trauma victims who manifest such behavior, hopefully destigmatizing them further, facilitating reduction of their shame and guilt, and supporting their recoveries. Clinical interventions are suggested.

KEYWORDS:

• Dissociative identity disorder
• revictimization
• sexuality
• incest
• dissociation

Acknowledgments

My thanks to Maximillian Muencke, M.D., Chief and Senior Investigator of the Medical Genetics Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health, for his insightful comments on several crucial issues. My thanks to Sophia Miryam Schüssler-Fiorenza Rose, M.D., Ph.D., Research Fellow at the Spinal Cord Injury Service, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care Center, for her clarifications of complexity theory and the concept of allostatic load.