Masochism

The line between pleasure and pain is an extremely vague one for all of us. But the masochist not only fails to draw any distinct boundaries between these two arbitrary concepts, he totally misunderstands their nature. In him, pleasure and pain do battle, and yet they become one; he strives to abase himself, to make himself ridiculous and contemptible. Although masochism seems to go against the most basic instincts of the living creature--the instincts of self-preservation, of pain avoidance, of the desire for dignity--it invades the masochist's life on every level of activity. What are the roots of masochism? How does it begin? What prompts a person to seek punishment and degradation? Can it be "cured?" These are only a few of the questions answered in this comprehensive work, with actual case histories!