Masochism revisited: Reflections on Masochism and its childhood antecedents

Abstract

Masochism, originally described as sexual perversion by Sacher von Masoch, was elaborated by Freud to include personality pathology, and further developed by Bieber and others. The DSM-III included sexual perversion and personality pathology as separate diagnoses, but were totally eliminated from the DSM-IV. It is the author's thesis that the masochist's self-abnegating language is diagnostic - a disguised attack expressing fear, hate, and contempt of others.