BERLIN, MARYLAND
When Marilyn Martin, 38, missed the annual DelMarVa Fetish Fashion Ball, concerned friends visited her at her upscale DC apartment to find the fetish model transfixed by her own reflection. Mick Turner, 57, said that the model had to be physically pulled away from the mirror and that she did not go willingly. “There was a lot of crying and sobbing and trying to break free,” Turner said. “She would just sob and repeat ‘It’s so beautiful’ over and over again.”
Medical professionals consulted at the time said that Martin suffered from a condition known as acute fetish induced narcissism, where the brain of the person actually short circuits and gets caught in a loop of actually becoming their own fetish.
Dr. Hyraim Smith, of the Center for the Study of Advanced Sexual Dysfunction, says that he sees about a dozen cases a year of this particular phenomenon. “A fetish is something external that you are attracted to. When you become your own fetish, you become completely impossible to be around.”
In this case, Smith says the unfortunately combination of extreme narcissism and seeing her own reflection caused a state of paralysis.
Megan Crumby, another fetish model from the area, and guest of honor at this year’s event said “It isn’t really surprising, Marilyn has always been a little full of herself. It is annoying and confusing. Why would anyone look at her when they could look at me?”
