Introduction
An obscene (disgusting and indecent) telephone call is a kind of unsought and unappreciated phone call where an individual uses bad language, expletives, vulgarism, and sexual language to interact with someone who may be familiar or a perfect stranger. Making such obscene telephone calls for sexual arousal (responses when exposed to sexual stimuli) and other sexual pleasure is called telephone scatologia.
Telephone scatologia is regarded as a form of exhibitionism, whereas exhibitionism is an act of perversion in which a person obtains sexual gratification by indecent exposure of one’s intimate parts. But, according to the psychiatric viewpoint, telephone scatologia is typically classified as a paraphilic disorder.
What Is Telephone Scatologia?
Telephone scatologia, or telephone scatophilia and telephonicophilia, is a type of paraphilic disorder. This disorder is characterized by making obscene phone calls to unconsenting familiar or strange people with the means to acquire sexual arousal and sexual gratification. It can be accompanied by certain sexually stimulating fantasies, sexual urges, and associated behaviors.
Paraphilia Disorder:
Paraphilias are perpetual and recurrent sexual interests, fantasies, urges, or actions of notable intensity that can involve significantly atypical activities, objections, and situations. Telephone scatologia, a type of paraphilic disorder, is classified as other specified paraphilic disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders- fifth edition (DSM-5).
The other specified paraphilic disorders include the following conditions.
- Telephone Scatologia- Obscene and sexual phone calls.
- Necrophilia- Attraction or love towards the dead body.
- Zoophilia- Love towards animals.
- Coprophilia- Intense attraction towards feces.
- Klismaphilia- Sexual gratification is attained by enemas.
- Urophilia- A kind of sexual interest emphasizing urination or urine.
The other specified paraphilic disorders also include certain other paraphilias that do not meet the criteria required for the specific categories and occur in less frequent degrees.
What Are the Characteristics of Telephone Scatologia?
Obscene phone calls are the predominant characteristic feature of telephone scatologia. But individuals with this paraphilia also present other features.
- Obscene and sexual phone calls.
- Sexually arousing fantasies.
- Sexual behaviors.
- Sexual urges.
These symptoms can result in interpersonal problems and practically significant distress. Moreover, telephone scatologia is usually accompanied by masturbation as a satisfaction method. These symptoms should have been present for at least six months to be diagnosed as telephone scatologia. When compared to other types of paraphilia, telephone scatologia turns out to be moderate.
What Are the Comorbidities of Telephone Scatologia?
Generally, it seems to be a common observation that paraphilia is usually not seen alone. It mostly accompanies other conditions or paraphilias. However, it was often accompanied by multiple psychiatric disorders greater than other paraphilia conditions. The clinical findings show that telephone scatologia can result in conjugation with the following conditions.
- Schizophrenia: Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder affecting an individual’s ability for thinking, feeling, and behaving properly. This condition is typically characterized by actions and thoughts that are out of touch with reality. The individual with this condition has disorganized speech, thoughts, and behavior with reduced involvement in daily functions. It might result in delusion, hallucination, and intensely disorganized thinking. Here, the telephone scatologia results along with an unspecified schizophrenia spectrum.
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Obsessive-compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a prevailing, long-term, and long-lasting condition in which an individual has excessive uncontrollable thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions) that one feels the urge to do over repetition for satisfaction. So, it is characterized by irrational thoughts with fears leading to compulsive behaviors. This condition mostly occurs on central themes, including fear of germs, fear of deliberately harming oneself, or urge to arrange the objects in a specified way. The symptoms of OCD commonly begin in gradual degrees but vary throughout life. Here, telephone scatologia is known to accompany OCD with poor or deficient insight.
- Epilepsy: Epilepsy, also referred to as seizure disorder, is a chronic non-communicable disorder in which the nerve cell activity of the brain is disturbed, leading to seizures. Generally, the brain persistently generates small electrical impulses in a well-organized way. But, a seizure is a sudden alteration in behavior due to a disruption in the electrical functioning of the brain. During a seizure attack, an individual encounters atypical behavior, sensations, and symptoms. This might include a loss of consciousness at times. There are certain types of epilepsy. Clinical studies say that telephone scatologia can result in a person having epileptic seizures.
- Borderline Mental Retardation: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) describes mental retardation as a lifelong condition that has intellectual functioning of significantly subaverage intelligence. Mental retardation is presently referred to as an intellectual disability. The predominant feature is difficulty in understanding and thinking. Below-average intelligence and associated life skills can largely impact certain conceptions, practical functioning, and social functioning. However, telephone scatologia can occur in conjunction with borderline mental retardation, where the individual has a cognitive decline below average but not as serious as the deficit of actual mental retardation.
- Other Psychotic Disorders: Psychotic disorders are a group of serious mental disorders causing irrational thinking and perceptions. Individuals with psychosis or psychotic disorders lose their connection with reality. Telephone scatologia can also accompany other psychotic disorders.
How Is Telephone Scatologia Addressed?
Though all telephone and Internet-related scatologia is obscene, not all obscene calls are considered telephone scatologia. Telephone calls that are made as a prank could be, at times, obscene. But, as thirst prank calls are not aimed at causing the sexual arousal or sexual satisfaction, they are not described as scatologia. So, it can be difficult to reach and address paraphilic people. Also, most obscene telephone calls have fewer possibilities for forensic evaluation. The information obtained from paraphilic individuals indicates that they had certain problems or got involved in legal proceedings.
Therefore, though obscene phone calls are commonly observed, it is very rare to get arrested by higher officials. Telephone scatologia is moderately ignored among all types of paraphilic disorders. Its ignorance can be due to a misconception of its non-aggressive nature.
Conclusion
Telephone scatologia is a condition in which a person does an obscene phone call and attains sexual gratification. It has different aspects when viewed from different angles. So, it is a type of paraphilia from a psychiatric aspect or viewpoint. From the recipient's perspective, such an obscene phone call may be considered a form of stalking or sexual harassment. According to the general public, such obscene phone calls must be hung up and reported to the police or telephone company. However, in the US, obscene telephone calls are considered a Class 1 misdemeanor.
