The paraphilias (Greek παραφιλία of pará, "aloof", "next", and Philia, "friendship", "love") are a group of mental disorders that are different than distinct and repetitive, from the empirical "norm" sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges or express penetrated exemplary behaviors that relate to inanimate objects, pain, humiliation or disagreement capable people such as children and cause clinically significant distress or impairment in the affected individual or their victims. What makes the paraphilias to mental disorders and not just too extravagant tastes, is that people who are affected by a paraphilia, or other self-inflict pain.
The causes of paraphilias are not clear today, even though it (as with most mental disorders) are many, sometimes very divergent explanations. A validated over decades of empirical research finds link between sexuality (in general) and personality. According to the established personality theories of human behavior, thought patterns, attitudes, etc. resulting in a large proportion of the personality of each individual. This could be extended empirically testable also to sexual behavior.
In this vein, some researchers to make connections between disordered sexual behavior and personality disorders. This does not mean that every paraphilia is equated with a personality disorder, but that the abnormal behavior that many (not all) have Para Phile, strongly reminiscent of the situation in personality disorders.