Review Article Portrayal of Paraphilia in History 1 2 3 Shreeya Basu , Y Ashutosh Bhardwaj , Surobhi Chatterjee 1,2,3 MBBS Student, KGMU, Lucknow, UP, India Abstract Normalcy and aberrance in sexual behaviour, is greatly influenced by societal norms and culture of a time and our perception of paraphilia is shaped by them. These conditions have transcended eras from Greek and Roman civilizations to modern medicine, finding mentions in the Bible, the Kamasutra, as well as in the 18th and 19th century works. With the efforts of Krafft Ebing and co-workers, paraphilia and paraphilic disorders now occupy an important niche in medicine. Treatment modalities have also evolved greatly- from radical means to medication and psychotherapy. Therefore our understanding of paraphilia is incomplete without delving into its history. Keywords: Paraphilia, History, Modern Medicine, Culture Date Received: 29th October 2019 Date Accepted: 15th December 2019 Correspondence should be directed to: Miss. Surobhi Chatterjee, MBBS Student King George's Medical University, Lucknow, UP, India Email-surochat98@gmail.com Introduction The term 'paraphilia' (Greek: para- beside, philos- love) has served as a broad term for a range of sexual thoughts and behaviour and as an alternative to derogatory terms like 'deviancy' and 'perversion'. Since the fine line between normal and abnormal sexuality is largely influenced by existent societal perception and culture, the exact idea of what constitutes paraphilia has been a matter of significant debate meriting a brief discussion of the historical aspects. According to the DSM-5, the term paraphilia denotes “any intense and persistent sexual interest other than sexual interest in genital stimulation or preparatory fondling with phenotypically normal, Indian Journal of Health, Sexuality & Culture Indian Journal of Health, Sexuality & Culture December 2019 Indian Institute of Sexology Bhubaneswar Volume (5), Issue (2) 01