Treatment of a compulsive paraphiliac with buspirone

This report provides an illustration of the potential value of drugs which enhance the effects of serotonin in the treatment of a compulsive paraphilia. A 37-year old man who had a long history of little control over urges to expose and to engage in obscene telephone calling, was placed on an open trial of buspirone. Buspirone proved very effective and this outcome, along with other reports of the beneficial effects of serotonin enhancers, encourages further research. Most interesting and notable was the observation that benefits continue to be maintained at 30 months after withdrawal of treatment.