Fetishism

Fetishism remains one of the most debated constructs in sexual psychology. This article explores its psychological roots — from Freudian substitution theory to classical conditioning — and examines the critical distinction between fetishistic interest and fetishistic disorder. Contemporary clinical frameworks, including DSM-5 and ICD-11, locate pathology not in the content of arousal but in the presence of significant distress or interpersonal impairment. Without suffering, there is no disorder — only a different erotic vocabulary.