Food-associated sexual arousal in psychiatric disorders: A case series.

Abstract

Background: Food-associated sexual arousal, frequently termed sitophilia, is a rarely reported phenomenon with no established diagnostic validity or prevalence data.

Cases: We describe it, in exploratory terms, as a secondary phenomenon across three psychiatric presentations. Three patients from a tertiary care psychiatry outpatient service were assessed through clinical interview and ICD-11 criteria. A 14-year-old girl with anorexia nervosa experienced arousal to food imagery that reinforced restriction; a 46-year-old man with depression developed arousal while cooking, as a compensatory pleasure; and a 24-year-old woman with obsessive-compulsive disorder felt arousal on achieving culinary perfection. In each, the arousal was concealed, was not the presenting complaint, and was linked to the underlying psychopathology.

Conclusion: Food-associated sexual arousal may represent a context-dependent secondary phenomenon shaped by underlying psychiatric conditions rather than a distinct paraphilic disorder. Systematic research using structured assessments is needed.