Exhibitionism: Report of a Case

Mr. W., the patient, was a missionary, age thirty-one. He was a college graduate, a man of force and ability, and had high ideals of private character and public service. While connected with a foreign mission, and shortly before he was to be married, he developed a compulsive exhibitionism which continued intermittently for six years and resulted in a scandal and forced resignation from his position. Each time the impulse came without warning and with overwhelming force. There was no orgasm or definitely sensual sensation, but there occurred what was described as a relief of tension Each episode was followed by acute shame and remorse, but a certain characteristic optimism gave him confidence that the act would never recur and enabled him to ignore the past. After two months of psychotherapeutic study, he gained control of his perversion and in the three years that have passed there has been no recurrence. The humiliation of the exposure and the loyal coöperation of his wife were potent supplementary factors in his recovery.

History

Mr. W. was the fourth of a large family of children. The father was a well-to-do New England farmer, a serious-minded, hardworking and public-spirited citizen. The home environment represented the best type of old-fashioned country life, with a religious atmosphere and Puritanical standards, but without undue repression. Several older brothers graduated from technical colleges and became successful engineers. The patient went through the public schools as an average scholar and mixed well socially. An academic college course followed, with industrial work through the vacations. He stood high in a scholastic way and was engaged in many other college activities.

As a boy, he was neither domineering nor timid, and got on well with playmates and others. As he grew older, he became more serious-minded, was very industrious, and rather aggressive in his