Sex Addiction Is Not a Thing
The man who killed eight people, six of whom were Asian American, told police in resorts in Atlanta that he was “sexually addicted.” Other men have said the same thing after committing rape or other crimes, but sex addiction is not recognized by most professionals as a real disorder and certainly does not exempt a person from horrific acts.
Some people who claim to be sexually addicted may hide behind this term as an excuse; others may sincerely believe they have a problem. (The Washington Post points out that Ted Bundy and Harvey Weinstein are among the people who reported their sex addiction, and that Tiger Woods went to rehab after several romances.)
But sex addiction is an outdated diagnosis that is missing from the current diagnostic guide for mental health professionals, DSM-5. As explained by CNN, the so-called sexual addiction – is not nothing but a relationship in the form in which we know it. For example, sex does not activate the same processes in the brain as drugs, and you cannot develop tolerance or rejection of it.
What do people feel if it’s not addiction?
“People who are most likely to think they are sexually addicted are not people who have a lot of sex, but rather people who have religious or negative views on sex,” writes Joshua Grubbs, a researcher who studies perceptions about morality and behavioral “preferences”. Conversation . He even specifically researched this connection:
In fact, we have now shown, in two studies using nationally representative samples, that religiosity and moral disapproval of pornography reinforce the link between pornography viewing and feelings of pornography addiction. For people who do not consider pornography to be morally inappropriate or irreligious, there is little or no relationship between how much pornography they view and whether they consider themselves to be addicted to it. However, for people who are very religious or find viewing pornography particularly wrong, even a small amount of pornography is associated with a self-reported feeling of addiction.
People who experience these feelings and are unhappy with their sexual urges may indeed need psychological help, but this does not mean that they should treat them as if they have an addiction.
The World Health Organization recognizes compulsive sexual behavior disorder , which they describe as a “persistent pattern of inability to control” impulses or urges. It is grouped with other behavioral control disorders, including those in which people are unable to control their gambling or when they compulsively ruffle their skin. With regard to sexual behavior, WHO notes:
Afflictions that are wholly associated with moral judgment and disapproval of sexual impulses, urges, or behavior are not sufficient to fulfill this requirement.
Meanwhile, the American Association of Sexual Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT) has released a statement on sex addiction, which explains why they do not view sexual behavior in an addiction-based framework:
AASECT recognizes that people can experience serious physical, psychological, spiritual and sexual health effects associated with their sexual urges, thoughts or behavior. AASECT encourages its members to use models that do not overly pathologize consensual sexual behavior. AASECT 1) does not find sufficient empirical evidence to support the classification of sex addiction or porn addiction as a mental health disorder, and 2) does not find that sex addiction education and treatment and pedagogical practices are adequately based on accurate human knowledge of sexuality. … The AASECT position, therefore, is that linking issues related to sexual urges, thoughts or behavior to the pornography / sex addiction process cannot be promoted by AASECT as a standard of practice in the provision of sexuality education, counseling or therapy.
Thus, while sex addiction is not an excuse or reason for committing crimes, people can certainly experience mental health problems associated with sex and their feelings about it. As Grubbs points out, millions of Americans believe their sexual behavior is out of control and they don’t kill people when they have a bad day.
If you feel like you are sexually addicted, it can still be helpful to seek mental health professional help. The United States Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration has a national hotline that can put you in touch with treatment.