The human being has a complex mind and the diversity between one and the other is infinite. The subject of tastes, hobbies or attachments, is a subject as curious as it is complex. In this credit, there is the case of particularly excessive preferences, so psychology has carried out studies on what a philia is and has given it a proper name, as is the case with the term exposed, which means the passionate inclination towards some object. or determined situation.
What is a filia
Table of Contents
The definition of filia is understood to be the excessive affection for some situation, reality or particular object, which may include some hobby, hobby (normal), some unhealthy inclination (pathological). This type of inclination, according to psychology, manifests some affective psychological phenomenon of the individual who expresses it.
These are not only associated with sexuality, as they are also referred to tastes for any area of life. When talking about a hobby, it is something that attracts the attention of the individual or feels inclined towards it, without being inappropriate or incorrect. Now, if it is not only a matter of attraction but of sexual excitement towards the object of affinity, the situation is different.
If any of these manifestations represents a danger of harm to the same individual or to another, it is considered that it has stopped being normal to become pathological. If it represents any interference or affects the social life, work or any other aspect of the sufferer, the suffix used would be "mania".
It should be noted that the concept of this word when involving love, attachment, inclination, attraction or liking, is the exact opposite of phobia, which is fear, fear, horror, repulsion or contempt for something, social group, situation or reality.
Characteristics of a filia
These are characterized by:
- The type of taste or inclination is considered excessive or passionate.
- It refers to sympathies towards something specific.
- It is a psychological phenomenon.
- It can go from a normal range to a pathological one, as in the case of hobbies or hobbies, to tastes that reflect destructive behaviors.
- For the most part, they are not considered pathological.
- Those that do have a pathological character can be composed of the same suffix, as they may do with "mania".
- Those that are made up of the suffix "filia" tend to have a more sexual character.
- The term was considered in the past as synonymous with deviation, aberration, perversion or abnormality.
- There are as many affiliates as there are people in the world.
- It can manifest itself on an affective level or on an erotic level.
The origin of the philias
The man from his childhood tends to adopt tastes and hobbies that his environment has, either from his family or from his circle of friends. These affinities do not necessarily satisfy the infant as an individual, since it is likely that he has taken them out of ignorance of other alternatives, or because he will find a way to fit into his environment.
In the case of pathological and / or paraphilias, the causes may be related to family history, suffering from some type of obsessive compulsive disorder (pattern of irrational thoughts and fears that manifests itself in repetitive and ritualistic behaviors), or of some other origin.
In the case of these, their origin comes from certain fixations by the instincts that develop behavioral patterns in the child, who goes through a complex process until they reach adulthood. This theory was developed by Sigmund Freud and will be broken down later.
Examples of filias
As mentioned, there are some fixations that correspond to an amateur (normal) and pathological field (which may include some type of aberration).
Some examples of the best known are the following:
Normal
- Anglophilia: Admiration for culture and knowledge related to England, the English or the English language.
- Astrafilia: Attraction towards thunder and lightning.
- Cinofilia: Fondness for dogs, their care, dog shows and everything related to them.
- Claustrophilia: It is the desire to remain in closed spaces, keeping closed doors and windows of the enclosure where the sufferer takes refuge.
- Colombofilia: Hobby or technique of pigeon breeding, particularly of the messengers.
- Demophilia: It refers to love towards the people or towards the crowds.
- Hydrophilicity: Affinity for water. The term also applies to any organism that develops adaptability for water.
- Morphophilia: Attraction to people with particular physical characteristics (eyes, hair or complexion of a certain color, race, among others).
- Neophilia: Affinity for the novel or the exotic.
- Nictofilia: Preference or affinity towards darkness and night.
Pathological
- Asphyxiophilia: Non-traditional form of sexual arousal by strangling the partner. Related to hypoxyphilia.
- Kleptomania: Considered as a mental disorder related to the irrepressible urge to steal.
- Coprophilia: Pleasure when smelling, touching or ingesting excrement.
- Cryptoscophilia: Desire to see the behavior of other people in the privacy of your home.
- Emetophilia: Excitement that is obtained by vomiting, by seeing another person doing it or by the vomiting itself.
- Gambling: Uncontrollable attraction to constantly play.
- Necrophilia: Attraction towards death or what is related to it. In the nuance of this fixation, it is the excitement of having sex with corpses.
- Pedophilia: Sexual attraction of an adult towards children of the same or opposite sex.
- Pyromania: Unhealthy tendency to cause fires or love of fire.
- Zoophilia: Sexual inclination and pleasure obtained from having sex with animals.
Differences between a phobia and a phobia
Just as in psychology there is a term for love, inclination or tendency towards something, there is one for the opposite: phobia. Phobia is the rejection, fear, terror or repulsion towards a specific object, type of person, situation or particular reality.
It is important to note that some phobias can cause the opposite effect, for example, agoraphobia, which is the excessive fear of open spaces, could eventually trigger a claustrophilia, which, as mentioned above, is the desire to stay in closed spaces constantly.
The differences that can be found between one and the other are the following:
1. Filia
- It means "friendship" or "love."
- It refers to a vehement inclination.
- Most of these are not pathologies; a percentage of them are.
- Its origin comes from a family history, an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) or a simple hobby.
- It can occur at a normal, excessive, or abnormal level.
- It does not necessarily affect the social life of the person.
- There are normal (which usually correspond to simple tastes) and pathological (which correspond to some type of disorder or deviation).
- It is considered a positive expression.
2. Phobia
- It means "horror".
- It refers to a repulsive fear.
- In general they are pathological.
- Its origin may be genetic due to some type of anxiety, or a trauma that has not been overcome.
- It is irrational and intense.
- It can represent a limitation in different areas of the life of the person who suffers from it.
- There are social phobias (fear of negative evaluation that they may or may not have of oneself) and specific phobias (fear is focused on a particular object, animal, situation or place).
- It is considered a negative expression.
Difference between a filia and a paraphilia
Within the philias, there are the paraphilias, which are those characterized by having a sexual connotation. While the former are mostly not considered unhealthy, the latter are. These are excessive and acute sexual attractions, although it does not necessarily involve the sexual act as such, but it does stimulate desire and respond to personal satisfaction.
As the meaning of philia has already been broadly described, now paraphilia will be more fully detailed as it refers.
Previously, they were considered as sexual deviations or perversions. In fact, its name indicates this, since "para" means "deviation" or "outside" and "filia" means "attraction", that is, it is a deviation that attracts the person who possesses it. Another name by which this type of inclination is known is aberration, which means behavior contrary to what is natural, correct or lawful.
When the sexual act or masturbation is implicit, for the people who suffer it, it is necessary to comply with it in order to achieve sexual arousal. In addition, the same person can have different fixations throughout his life, some specific for each stage of his maturity or growth.
According to the famous neurologist and father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, libido or sexual desire is present from the moment the individual is born, characterized by the satisfaction of non-genital auto-erogenous sources (eating, sucking, defecating, getting muddy, looking and exhibiting). These acts are called partial instincts, which upon reaching adulthood will gradually integrate until they reach the genital domain in adulthood.
According to Freud, these instincts continue in the individual and are hidden in kisses, erotic games and exhibitionism, which are usually used in games prior to sexual relations. If the instincts come from the pregenital stage of the individual, they will be dominant sources of sexual enjoyment in adulthood.
The tendency to develop a fixation of this type is hidden throughout the world, however, why they are carried out in some people is not clear, however, it is believed that the main causes are the Oedipus complex (desire loving towards the parent of the opposite sex and hostile towards him of the same sex), castration anxiety (it is in the male the fear of losing power or superiority at the hands of his father, and in the girl the confirmation that he has been "castrated") and other irregularities of the family environment during the individual's childhood.
