I think it would depend entirely on the person, and on the way their desires and nature tend. Some people find the control side of things more natural, and the play side more difficult; others, the other way round. If you have restrained your own desires for a long time, if you have learnt that controlling someone else is wrong and hurting someone else is wrong, you will have your own path to make to get past these lessons and back into your real self (assuming that any aspect of BDSM is part of your real self).