I surely depends dramatically on both the domme and on the sub. Even in a book of what seems to be commercial almost sex work such as written by one domme several years ago, there was at least one situation she describes in which the guy seeing her and another domme in the dungeon described or mentioned a situation that was frightening to him and they created some part or aspects of that, and he was better off psychologically afterwards.

Moreover, there are a variety of psychological studies which have been done by the generally recognized psychologists or recognized professionals or professors of psychology and/or psychiatry, and in what seems to be every case in which the mental health of those who practice anything from mere spanking to more severe activities is compared with the general population, those who practice or receive bdsm seems to be *superior* in at least some aspects.

Of course, part of the problem, if there is a problem, could lie in what is considered superior to the general population. The psychologists may claim that those who practice or receive bdsm are psychologically healthier than the general population but some Christians might immediately object that whatever measure is indicating better mental is actually not an appropriate measure of better mental.

However, consider this. Before the coming of the white man to the Americas, there were Indian tribes which practiced a variety of coming of age rituals, including sweat lodge experiences and also such things as being bound and being bitten by red or bullet ants.

Today you and I can go to youtube and see videos of some of the ceremonies of Indian tribes in which either tribesmen or white invities have their hands placed in gloves with dozens of angry bullet ants about to bite.

The ants bite and each bite is considered to be about as painful as gunshot. And there are multiple or dozens of bites to the hand or wrist. The hand or forearm then swells and there is great pain for up to the next 24 hours.

Now, I think that no one would claim that the men of the tribe who experience being bitten by the bullet ants are doing it either for sexual reasons or to be submissive to a domme or interested sexually in a domme.

If you study the history and folklore of spanking and caning and whipping, there are multiple ideas in folklore and in the last 2000 years which indicate that some painful experiences are considered by some cultures to be therapeutic and good for the person receiving or experiencing them.

The Romans, the Europeans, the East Indians and visitors to Taoist temples once a year or so experienced a variety of whipping or caning or spanking in a variety of contexts and rituals.