Somnophilia (from Latin somnus "sleep" and Greek φιλία, -philia "friendship") is a paraphilia in which an individual becomes sexually aroused by someone who is unconscious.[1][2][3] The Dictionary of Psychology categorized somnophilia within the classification of predatory paraphilias.[4]
The term somnophilia was coined by John Money in 1986.[1][2] He characterized the condition as a type of sexual fetishism,[1] described as a type of syndrome: "of the marauding-predatory type in which erotic arousal and facilitation or attainment of orgasm are responsive to and dependent on intruding upon" someone who is unable to respond.[1][5] He wrote that often the condition then subsequently involves the individual waking the unresponsive sexual partner after the act has been committed.[1][5]
According to Money, somnophilia may progress to necrophilia, the desire to have sexual relations with a dead body.[6] He characterized it as a form of "stealth and stealing paraphilias" including kleptophilia.[7] Money wrote that somnophilia has a high degree of correlation with acts of incest throughout history.[8] Abuse may follow from the condition including use of force or abduction.[6] Typically, the individual upon whom the sex act is committed by the somnophiliac is a stranger not previously known intimately to the individual.[9] The somnophiliac may create an unconscious state in the victim by drugging them, or may engage in sex with someone who is inebriated or asleep.[10] The perpetrator becomes attracted to the idea of a sexual participant who is unable to resist their advances.[10]
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders classified the term in 2000 under DSM-IV TR code 302.9 and in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems under ICD-10 code F65.9.[11] The Dictionary of Psychology categorized somnophilia within the classification of predatory paraphilias.[4]
A 2015 study with a sample of 1516 participants reported that 22,6% of men and 10,8% of women have fantasized about "sexually abusing a person who is drunk, asleep, or unconscious." Another 2021 study by Michael Seto found that 9% of its participants have had interest in "sex with someone who is unconscious or sleeping" and 7,7% engaged in such behavior. A third study reported that 82% of its sample have had interest in engaging in consensual sexual activities with a sleeping partner, and 47% reported some interest in non-consensual somnophilic activities. These studies suggest that somnophilic fantasies are more common than previously thought, though possible sample biases have been identified in some of them.[12]
Physicians have attempted to treat somnophilia with forms of psychotherapy, as well as with medications used for pedophilia.[1] James Cantor, psychologist and editor-in-chief of Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, stated: "There are occasional claims for treatment, but no one has presented meaningful, compelling evidence that someone with a paraphilia can be turned into someone without a paraphilia. As far as we can tell, it's like sexual orientation."[1] Somnophilia rises to the level of diagnosis when it causes "significant impairment", specifically, when the individual performing the sex act does so with a partner who does not give their consent.[1]
Somnophilia has presented itself as a recurring phenomenon in popular culture, including in the French film influenced by Alfred Hitchcock movies, Who Killed Bambi? (French: Qui a tué Bambi ?).[13] The plot of the horror film involves a surgeon who drugs his female patients in order to rape them.[13] The assailant resorts to murder after one of the women wakes up from her unconscious state as he begins to remove her clothing.[13] The title character attempts to warn the board of directors at the hospital of the murderer's activity.[13]
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