No, objectophilia (or objectum-sexuality) is generally considered a sexual orientation, not a mental disorder, as it's an enduring attraction to inanimate objects that doesn't inherently cause distress or functional impairment, though individuals may face societal stigma. Some research links it to traits like autism and synesthesia, but the core experience is characterized by deep emotional, romantic, or sexual feelings for things like buildings, vehicles, or structures, rather than being a pathology.
We humans are social creatures with advanced emotional capacity. It's perfectly normal to enjoy certain aspects of another human's personality without being sexually attracted to them. Some may call it shallow, but at the end of the day you can't force yourself to develop an attraction.
The first empirical behavioural study was conducted in 2019 by neuropsychologist Julia Simner and her colleagues. Their data suggests that objectophilia is likely to arise when two separate neurodevelopmental traits co-occur: autism and synaesthesia.
Objectophilia is not a mental health condition. Instead, people who identify as objectophiles often experience deep feelings of love toward objects that do not result in any distress or impairment in functioning.
Can Object Sexuality be Treated? While there isn't one specific treatment designed just to help people with object sexuality, many benefit from attending counseling. Individual and group therapy can help the person understand how to identify and minimize their compulsive feelings.
People with a breeding fetish generally enjoy the “risky” feeling of potentially permanent consequences from a sexual act. They may also enjoy a feeling of power exchange, where one partner is “submitting” to the other.
Common Misconceptions About Autosexuality
Myth: Autosexuality is the same as narcissism. Fact: While both involve a focus on oneself, autosexuality is a sexual orientation, not a personality disorder.
It is sometimes assumed that kinks (particularly masochism) are the result of trauma or childhood abuse; however, research has shown that kink participants have slightly lower rates of childhood abuse and trauma than the general population.
Lithsexual / Lithosexual
(Adj.) Describes a sexual orientation in which an individual feels romantic attraction to others but may not have a need for their affection to be reciprocated or may not have a need to engage in a relationship with that person.
Symbiosexuality refers to an attraction to the dynamic energy between people in an existing relationship. It's different from other sexualities, which tend to involve attraction to individuals. Symbiosexuality is observed across a wide range of ages, socio-economic backgrounds, and gender identities.
But it does provide some rough guidelines as to how soon may be too soon to make long-term commitments and how long may be too long to stick with a relationship. Each of the three numbers—three, six, and nine—stands for the month that a different common stage of a relationship tends to end.
Martha Nussbaum (1995) identified seven dimensions of objectification: instrumentality, denial of autonomy, inertness, fungibility, violability, ownership, and denial of subjectivity.
Fraysexual means experiencing strong sexual attraction to strangers or people you don't know well, with that attraction fading as emotional intimacy or familiarity grows; it's essentially the opposite of demisexuality, where connection comes before attraction, and it's considered part of the asexual spectrum, sometimes called ignotasexuality. Fraysexual individuals often prefer emotionless or low-emotion sexual encounters and find their desire decreases with emotional closeness, though they can still form romantic bonds.
The 777 rule in relationships is a guideline for intentionally nurturing your connection by scheduling quality time: a date every 7 days, a night away every 7 weeks, and a longer vacation every 7 months. This structure helps couples avoid disconnection, reduce stress, and build intimacy by creating regular, focused moments for communication, fun, and deeper bonding, though it's flexible and adaptable to individual needs.
Emophilia means the tendency to fall in love quickly, easily, and frequently, often described as "emotional promiscuity," where individuals rapidly develop intense romantic feelings, say "I love you" early, and jump into relationships, sometimes overlooking red flags for the exhilarating experience of new love. It's a personality trait linked to chasing excitement and romantic stimulation, differing from attachment anxiety (fear-based) by being a reward-seeking approach. High emophilia can lead to risky behaviors, unhealthy attachments, and difficulty forming stable relationships, according to Psychology Today.
Beyond the flag, you can recognize or identify as gynosexual if you feel a very special attraction to the following:
Abrosexuality describes a sexual orientation that is fluid and changes over time. This means an abrosexual person's attractions to different genders, or even their level of sexual interest, can shift over days, weeks, months, or years.
According to the wiki: Bellussexual is a microlabel on the asexual spectrum defined as one who has interest in certain sexual actions, the aesthetic of sexual relationships, and/or aspects of sexual relationships, but does not feel sexual attraction and does not want a sexual relationship.
Orchidsexual is a sexual orientation on the asexual spectrum in which one experiences sexual attraction, but does not desire a sexual relationship. They may not want to have or dislike having sexual experiences. It can be used as a label by itself or as an umbrella term.
Signs of childhood trauma
Symptoms of fetishistic disorder
Fetishistic disorder may be diagnosed if you experience: intense sexual arousal stemming from a part of the body that is not genitalia, or from an inanimate object. recurring urges and fantasies that last more than 6 months. anxiousness related to the fetish.
In univariate analyses, all 5 forms of childhood trauma in this study (ie, witnessing violence, physical neglect, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse) demonstrated statistically significant relationships with the number of different aggressive behaviors reported in adulthood.
The "3 E's of Narcissism" refer to three core traits often seen in individuals with narcissistic tendencies: Empathy impairment, a profound lack of understanding or sharing of others' feelings; Entitlement, a belief they deserve special treatment and admiration; and Exploitation, using others for personal gain without guilt. These characteristics highlight how narcissists often struggle to connect emotionally, feel superior, and manipulate people to meet their own needs.
Yes, Kourtney Kardashian has identified herself as autosexual, sharing content on her Poosh website that explains the term as being turned on by one's own eroticism, like feeling sexy or enjoying self-touch, which she suggests most people experience to some degree, though she also engages in partnered sex.
The term is intentionally vague to accommodate the people who fall somewhere between asexual and sexual. They might experience sexual attraction once in a while but largely don't. A graysexual person may have a history of sexual experience that doesn't reflect their current sexual identity or sense of self.