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Hyper sexual disorder or sex addiction: A study
– Reported, October 27, 2012
Can sex addiction actually exist? Or is it mere excuse to hide the inherent sexual desire? Well, experts feel it’s really a worthy issue. There has been buzz of it being made part of the upcoming revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which is apparently being viewed as “bible” for psychologists.
In order to probe further, a team of experts puts on a lot many efforts. It was told that they questioned and psychological testing on 207 such patients being treated at U. S. mental health clinics. They got to know that some 93% were actually suffering from hyper sexual disorder.
“It’s about having sex that’s causing problems, out of control, risking infection”, as per co-author Rory Reid, an Assistant Professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles. “It’s usually the consequences [of the hyper sexual behavior] that bring people through the door”.
However, he further claimed that saying it as mere sex addiction is not enough, since it’s yet not clear if it’s indeed compulsion. Published in the October issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, it has once again made one and all to think a bit more about the underlying issue.
According to one of the researchers, the critical issue is whether the out-of-control sexual behavior is interfering with a person’s life and they feel powerless to change it.
“It’s about having sex that’s causing problems, out of control, risking infection,” said guidelines co-author Rory Reid, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles. “It’s usually the consequences [of the hypersexual behavior] that bring people through the door.”
Reid added that he believes the lay term “sex addiction” is a misnomer.”I wouldn’t call it sex addiction because we’re lacking information aboutwhether it is indeed acompulsion,” he explained.
To meet the criteria for hyper sexual disorder, the behavior must be causing harm. “If a patient is engaging in a particular sexual behavior and it’s not hurting them or others, it’s not a problem,” he explained.
So what do they mean by “causing harm”? For one particularly disturbing example, Reid described one patient, an air cargo pilot, who engaged in auto-erotic asphyxiation about once a month — masturbating at high altitude to the point of passing out.
The study findings, published in the October issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, support a set of criteria that show what should be considered a hypersexual disorder.
The criteria include:
Sexual behavior that’s been occurring over a period of at least six months.
Recurrent, intense sexual fantasies, often in response to anxiety, depression and other mood states or stressful life events.
Attempts by the person to control or reduce the behaviors.
Behaviors that risk harm to themselves or others, or cause clinically significant personal distress or impairment in people’s lives.
Certain things that would rule out a diagnosis of hyper sexual disorder would include drug abuse (the sexual fantasies or behaviors typically occur while under the influence), underlying medical conditions, or youth (diagnosis typically isn’t made for anyone under the age of 18).
However, Reid added that the study did find the disorder most often has its roots in adolescence or early adulthood. The most common sexual behaviors associated with the problem included masturbation and excessive use of pornography, sex with a consenting adult, and cybersex (“virtual” sex conducted online). Other risk factors included sex with prostitutes, repeated affairs, or having an average of 15 different sex partners in a year.
The good news is that hyper sexual disorder can be treated. According to Reid, treatment typically includes cognitive behavioral therapy or experiential therapy to help people process their emotions and develop coping skills, mindfulness meditation to help patients increase their tolerance for cravings and 12-step groups.
Still, some may wonder if labeling out-of-control sexual behavior a pathology is simply turning normal adult behavior into an illness. But James Maddux, professor emeritus of psychology at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., says that in this case, that’s probably not what’s happening.
“I’m always skeptical of a new so-called disorder but in this case I think it’s probably justified,” he said. The key, he said, is that “the research is based on people who actually sought help and are disturbed about it.”
Reid said that getting the new criteria into the DSM-5 would “put everyone on the same page” when it comes to diagnosing these sexual problems. He added that it would also provide well-structured criteria on which outcome studies could be based.
However, Reid doesn’t believe the criteria will make it into the main section of the next edition of the DSM. “They’ve already made a decision that if this disorder is included in the DSM-5, it will not be in the front pages but as an appendix item — which means more research is needed.
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