Sex Addiction

[Deadlift1]

Do you have sex addicts as clients?

[bnm73]

Do you have sex addicts as clients?

According to the mental health community, there's no such thing. It doesn't appear anywhere in the DSM-5.

[TruHart1]

According to the mental health community, there's no such thing. It doesn't appear anywhere in the DSM-5.

Well I personally know of one escort who removed himself from the business and retired specifically to try to control his lifelong (non-existent?!!) sex addiction!!!

 

TruHart1

[+ Avalon]

According to the mental health community, there's no such thing. It doesn't appear anywhere in the DSM-5.

 

Isn't there a group akin to AA and NA for sex addicts?

[bnm73]

Well I personally know of one escort who removed himself from the business and retired specifically to try to control his lifelong (non-existent?!!) sex addiction!!!

 

TruHart1

Well, whomever made the diagnosis didn't use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

[bnm73]

Isn't there a group akin to AA and NA for sex addicts?

There's a 12-step group for just about everything you can think of.

 

As a variation of Rule 34, "if there is a thing, there is a pseudo-religious 12-step group for that thing."

[TruHart1]

Well, whomever made the diagnosis didn't use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

According to the now retired escort in question, he saw a specialist (psychiatrist) for his sex addiction. Perhaps those doctors who treat sex addiction are all quacks? What about those who treat drug addiction? Gambling addiction? Those of us clients who are addicted to certain amazing escorts ourselves? Hey, I am completely happy and ecstatic with my adDICKtion to certain escorts I see on a regular basis!!! In fact, they keep me drained and sane! :confused::eek:

 

TruHart1

[bnm73]

According to the now retired escort in question, he saw a specialist (psychiatrist) for his sex addiction. Perhaps those doctors who treat sex addiction are all quacks? What about those who treat drug addiction? Gambling addiction? Those of us clients who are addicted to certain amazing escorts ourselves? Hey, I am completely happy and ecstatic with my adDICKtion to certain escorts I see on a regular basis!!! In fact, they keep me drained and sane! :confused::eek:

 

TruHart1

 

See Post 2. There is no such diagnosis as "sexual addiction" in the DSM-V. If someone were diagnosed with it, it was not according to the manual. If someone were acting compulsively and needed help to get their actions under control, then they should seek help, by all means. But there's no such thing as "sexual addiction" in the DSM-V.

[TruHart1]

See Post 2. There is no such diagnosis as "sexual addiction" in the DSM-V. If someone were diagnosed with it, it was not according to the manual. If someone were acting compulsively and needed help to get their actions under control, then they should seek help, by all means. But there's no such thing as "sexual addiction" in the DSM-V.

Curious. Are other addictions listed in the DSM-V as legitimate diagnoses, or is this more about semantics than addiction?

 

TruHart1

[bnm73]

Curious. Are other addictions listed in the DSM-V as legitimate diagnoses, or is this more about semantics than addiction?

 

TruHart1

 

Well, narcotics/alcohol addiction is usually more of a medical (rather than psychological) diagnosis, but I believe they are in the DSM-5 also. There is actually a category of "Addition and Related Disorders." Pathological gambling is included there.

https://www.addiction.com/3521/updated-view-addiction-dsm-5/

 

The problem may be that there is insufficient documented research into sexual addiction or a lack of regimented study. I know it's not there, but I'm not saying that it doesn't exist, necessarily.

[+ tassojunior]

and yet addiction to one is called love

[LivingnLA]

Well, narcotics/alcohol addiction is usually more of a medical (rather than psychological) diagnosis, but I believe they are in the DSM-5 also. There is actually a category of "Addition and Related Disorders." Pathological gambling is included there.

https://www.addiction.com/3521/updated-view-addiction-dsm-5/

 

The problem may be that there is insufficient documented research into sexual addiction or a lack of regimented study. I know it's not there, but I'm not saying that it doesn't exist, necessarily.

 

The idea of an addiction to sex is definitely still open for debate. There are many reasons why it isn't in the DSM-5. The lack of research, the lack of agreement on symptoms, and the lack of certain sex/gender/culture markers all lead to the likely possibility that "sex addiction" doesn't exist and is a cultural construct to excuse cheaters, who are predominately men in hetero-normative patriarchal societies with monogamous expectations.

 

The AAC talks about it like it's a real thing: https://www.psychguides.com/guides/sex-addiction-symptoms-causes-and-effects/

 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/philosophy-stirred-not-shaken/201405/is-sex-addiction-real

 

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/07/sex_addiction_study_ucla_researchers_find_that_sex_and_porn_might_not_actually.html

 

A decent overview article from last year about the ongoing debate: http://time.com/5016058/sex-addiction/

Edited September 8, 2018 by LivingnLA

[Zapped]

While sex, pornography, and other behavioral issues may not (yet) be classified as disorders in the DSM-V, there certainly are a lot of people in the mental health community, especially those doing clinical work, who accept "sex addiction" and "porn addiction" as, at a minimum, useful working terms. Whether or not they are true addictions depends a lot on how "addiction" is defined. It can be a long path for something to make it into the DSM, especially if there isn't a drug company pushing a medication to treat the condition! It must be difficult to secure funding to do the necessary research to get something like a behavioral pattern classified as an addiction.

 

Meanwhile, I personally have found it very helpful to participate in the Sex Addicts Anonymous program, and very, very helpful to think of certain thought and behavior patterns as something addictive for me. For example, if I start in on porn it leads to phone sex which will take up all time I can make available, with my work and relationship with my husband suffering. And the fantasies get more and more extreme and exhausting.

 

What are fun, recreational sex activities for many guys are something I just can't handle. Saying to myself "I'm an addict" is really useful in keeping myself from starting something that I have found over and over I can't stop.

 

Whether or not this is a true addiction, strictly defined, is a good question. What's true for a lot of people like me is that it works to think of ourselves as addicts, in my case, anyway, knowing I'm using the term somewhat loosely.

 

There are a lot of therapists with "sex addiction" practices, books, articles, etc.

[LivingnLA]

While sex, pornography, and other behavioral issues may not (yet) be classified as disorders in the DSM-V, there certainly are a lot of people in the mental health community, especially those doing clinical work, who accept "sex addiction" and "porn addiction" as, at a minimum, useful working terms. Whether or not they are true addictions depends a lot on how "addiction" is defined. It can be a long path for something to make it into the DSM, especially if there isn't a drug company pushing a medication to treat the condition! It must be difficult to secure funding to do the necessary research to get something like a behavioral pattern classified as an addiction.

 

Meanwhile, I personally have found it very helpful to participate in the Sex Addicts Anonymous program, and very, very helpful to think of certain thought and behavior patterns as something addictive for me. For example, if I start in on porn it leads to phone sex which will take up all time I can make available, with my work and relationship with my husband suffering. And the fantasies get more and more extreme and exhausting.

 

What are fun, recreational sex activities for many guys are something I just can't handle. Saying to myself "I'm an addict" is really useful in keeping myself from starting something that I have found over and over I can't stop.

 

Whether or not this is a true addiction, strictly defined, is a good question. What's true for a lot of people like me is that it works to think of ourselves as addicts, in my case, anyway, knowing I'm using the term somewhat loosely.

 

There are a lot of therapists with "sex addiction" practices, books, articles, etc.

 

I'm fairly well versed in the on-going debate. I'm glad it's working for you. Just because there isn't solid research around something doesn't mean it can't be useful or helpful so long as it isn't taken as gospel or a settled scientific Theory. Humans are complex animals and our sexuality is fiendishly complex, so it will be many decades even a century or two before we understand it fully, if we ever do.

 

https://melmagazine.com/trust-a-scientist-sex-addiction-is-a-myth-76014c4b14eb

 

Perhaps it's a question of physical vs. psychological addiction. "Sex addiction" has no currently reliably observed physiological markers, tendencies toward tolerance/dependence, or withdrawal as compared to addictions like alcoholism, opiods, gambling, etc.

 

https://www.addiction.com/expert-blogs/sex-addiction-dsm-5-2/

 

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/263750.php

 

I'm in the "sex compulsion" or "hypersexuality" camp not the "sex addiction" camp. I'm not minimizing it as an issue for some people, but using the term "addiction" is inappropriate given what we currently know.

Edited September 13, 2018 by LivingnLA

[Rudynate]

While sex, pornography, and other behavioral issues may not (yet) be classified as disorders in the DSM-V, there certainly are a lot of people in the mental health community, especially those doing clinical work, who accept "sex addiction" and "porn addiction" as, at a minimum, useful working terms. Whether or not they are true addictions depends a lot on how "addiction" is defined. It can be a long path for something to make it into the DSM, especially if there isn't a drug company pushing a medication to treat the condition! It must be difficult to secure funding to do the necessary research to get something like a behavioral pattern classified as an addiction.

 

Meanwhile, I personally have found it very helpful to participate in the Sex Addicts Anonymous program, and very, very helpful to think of certain thought and behavior patterns as something addictive for me. For example, if I start in on porn it leads to phone sex which will take up all time I can make available, with my work and relationship with my husband suffering. And the fantasies get more and more extreme and exhausting.

 

What are fun, recreational sex activities for many guys are something I just can't handle. Saying to myself "I'm an addict" is really useful in keeping myself from starting something that I have found over and over I can't stop.

 

Whether or not this is a true addiction, strictly defined, is a good question. What's true for a lot of people like me is that it works to think of ourselves as addicts, in my case, anyway, knowing I'm using the term somewhat loosely.

 

There are a lot of therapists with "sex addiction" practices, books, articles, etc.

 

 

Thank you for making the important point that an interpretation that you find useful is not true in an absolute sense.

[Kenny]

Given that gambling disorder was reclassified from a disorder of impulse control to a behavioral addiction in the DSM-5, there is now no theoretical reason why other behavioral addictions can’t be added in the years to come.

 

A pathological relationship to a mood-altering experience can be as self-destructive as a pathological relationship to a mood-altering substance.

[Rudynate]

Given that gambling disorder was reclassified from a disorder of impulse control to a behavioral addiction in the DSM-5, there is now no theoretical reason why other behavioral addictions can’t be added in the years to come.

 

A pathological relationship to a mood-altering experience can be as self-destructive as a pathological relationship to a mood-altering substance.

 

 

That's something at least. It is classified as a behavioral addiction, implying that behavioral addiction and substance addiction are distinct from each other.

[+ DERRIK]

An activity that makes your life unmanageable may be an addiction. Booze is legal - most M/F can manage it. A small % cannot.

 

Powerball is legal in most states. Some M/F get their paycheck and spend the rent/gas money on scratch off before they arrive home.

 

Looking at porn is legal but if I stay up 20 hours watching and don’t show up at work - perhaps there is a problem.

 

Years ago I had a friend whose wife scheduled a Caesarian birth of their first born. Tom had a meeting in DC and asked his brother to standin for him. Workaholic example where obviously his life was unmanageable. BTW. Tom did go to the meeting

 

Perhaps gaming a new addiction

 

These might be considered process addictions aside from substance addiction

 

FRIEND OF BILL

[JayCeeKy]

Mental health professionals treat symptoms, not diagnoses. Granted, insurance companies and other third-party-payers will demand a diagnosis (so that they can set limits on how much $$$ they're gonna have to pay out - and to designate "best practices" for treatment). But, there are definite signs (what observers notice about the addicted person) and symptoms (problems that the addicted person finds unpleasant and unwanted) of sex addiction. Sex addiction shares some of the same sign/symptoms as substance addiction: an abnormal preoccupation with sex, uncontrollable urges, putting oneself into hazardous or dangerous situations in order to obtain sex, continuing to seek sex even in the face of negative consequences (over-spending, divorce, getting robbed), person begins to focus entirely on sex to the exclusion of other social, professional, or familiar duties and responsibility.

 

The American Psychiatric Association which produced the DSM-5 rejected the inclusion of Sex Addiction (again) in 2012 on the basis of lack of scientific evidence. I suspect that the powerful insurance industry also may have lobbied against its inclusion, but that is my speculation. Adding it to the DSM would have benefitted the "Sex Addiction Treatment" centers as well as pharmaceuticals since they would then set their minds to creating "libido inhibiting" medications. And I suspect that the battle over sex addiction will continue when a revised DSM is proposed. The DSM is a political and economic product as well as a scientific document. (As most of us remember, homosexuality was classified as a disorder in the original DSM.)

 

Often, mental health professionals, in order to receive reimbursement, will bill for problems that result as a consequence of addiction, especially depression and anxiety.

[FTM Zachary Prince]

It’s wild that there are gay people who actually think the DSM is some kind of authority on anything. Seriously??? You don’t know enough by now to know that it’s flawed and biased???

 

Any behaviour that is harming someone, which they desire to stop but return to and repeat compulsively is an ADDICTION. Regardless of whatever the fucking DSM has to say about it.

 

The DSM had transgender people defined as inherently mentally ill until only this year. And some of you think it’s a worthy authority to define our issues by. Amazing. Critical thinking skills are severely lacking sometimes.

 

Maybe some people are coming from a place of feeling defensive because they have been accused of being sex addicts for being promiscuous. Promiscuity is not sex addiction. But sex addiction is certainly real.

[bnm73]

It’s wild that there are gay people who actually think the DSM is some kind of authority on anything. Seriously??? You don’t know enough by now to know that it’s flawed and biased???

 

Any behaviour that is harming someone, which they desire to stop but return to and repeat compulsively is an ADDICTION. Regardless of whatever the fucking DSM has to say about it.

 

The DSM had transgender people defined as inherently mentally ill until only this year. And some of you think it’s a worthy authority to define our issues by. Amazing. Critical thinking skills are severely lacking sometimes.

 

Maybe some people are coming from a place of feeling defensive because they have been accused of being sex addicts for being promiscuous. Promiscuity is not sex addiction. But sex addiction is certainly real.

 

I'm sorry if you're pissed off at psychiatry/psychology because of things in older manuals that no longer apply.

 

For the record, the current DSM-5 was published 5 years ago, not 1. The older one (DSM-4) was published in 1994. "Transgender/Transexualism" was not in DSM-4, either...though Transexualism was in the DSM-III (published in 1980). Without tracking down a copy of the IV and flipping through it, I can't comment with any certainty on other diagnoses that might have been more "round about" in their definitions, etc. If you're referring to the DSM-IV diagnosis of "Gender Identity Disorder," one of the disqualifying criteria for that diagnosis was "if the individual has a concurrent physical intersex condition..."

 

Does new information become known that necessitates a change in diagnostic criteria? Absolutely. That's why things get updated regularly...to reflect newer knowledge. That's kind of the point of science.

[Rudynate]

It’s wild that there are gay people who actually think the DSM is some kind of authority on anything. Seriously??? You don’t know enough by now to know that it’s flawed and biased???

 

Any behaviour that is harming someone, which they desire to stop but return to and repeat compulsively is an ADDICTION. Regardless of whatever the fucking DSM has to say about it.

 

The DSM had transgender people defined as inherently mentally ill until only this year. And some of you think it’s a worthy authority to define our issues by. Amazing. Critical thinking skills are severely lacking sometimes.

 

Maybe some people are coming from a place of feeling defensive because they have been accused of being sex addicts for being promiscuous. Promiscuity is not sex addiction. But sex addiction is certainly real.

 

 

I think it is important to distinguish between compulsive behaviors and addictions.

[LookingAround]

It’s wild that there are gay people who actually think the DSM is some kind of authority on anything. Seriously??? You don’t know enough by now to know that it’s flawed and biased???

 

Any behaviour that is harming someone, which they desire to stop but return to and repeat compulsively is an ADDICTION. Regardless of whatever the fucking DSM has to say about it.

 

The DSM had transgender people defined as inherently mentally ill until only this year. And some of you think it’s a worthy authority to define our issues by. Amazing. Critical thinking skills are severely lacking sometimes.

 

Maybe some people are coming from a place of feeling defensive because they have been accused of being sex addicts for being promiscuous. Promiscuity is not sex addiction. But sex addiction is certainly real.

 

Actually your uninformed opinion (which you pretend is fact) is so off base that it’s actually absurd that you pretend people who disagree with you are wrong.

[FTM Zachary Prince]

I think it is important to distinguish between compulsive behaviors and addictions.

 

Compulsive behaviours which are harmful and cannot be stopped even if stopping is desired are addictions. That is the distinction. Eating is an example of a compulsive behaviour that is not an addiction, except in the case where someone knows that their manner of eating is harming them & wants to stop their compulsive eating habits but cannot. In that case it is an addiction.

[Rudynate]

That is incorrect. A compulsion is a repetitive behavior from which an actor is unable to refrain. An addiction is a compulsion compounded by a physical dependency.