Question:
I am an female who plays online games. In these games you have to chose a character male or female. I choose to play an adult male and have sexual online relationships with adult women as a man. I talk to them in other chat agents and become a confidant, friends and lovers. Will even go as far as deepening my voice for phone sex and conversations. Some times I feel like confessing when they profess their love for me. Other times I just say to my self its a game and I’m playing a character. I have been doing this for 10 years. Am I sick?
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Answer:
Times change and so too do definitions of sickness. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, (4th text-revised edition) contains definitions for all recognized mental illnesses. In past years, this book defined homosexual behavior as an illness. However, this was removed from the book a long time ago, and today, homosexual behavior is not an illness at all, but rather a simple variation of normal sexual behavior. What you describe is not conventional homosexual activity or fantasy, but it’s close enough. So – from a sexual standpoint, I don’t think you’re sick, and neither would any other modern mental health professional. However, there is the issue of being disingenuous about representing yourself as a man to unsuspecting other to consider. It’s not a mental illness, but it is a chronic lie (albeit a white lie) that seems to bother you. It would be good for you to figure out a way to play out this fantasy without the layers of dishonesty that come with it now, at least if you are interested in taking any of these relationships to a next intimate level.
