Sex Addiction

[+ honcho]

Wikipedia is not an authoritative source.

 

Having done a recent spate back in school, the instructor in the Introduction to Graduate Study in Music course said "you should *consult* wikipedia at the beginning to find references, get some familiarity, but you may not *cite* it in a paper."

[FTM Zachary Prince]

Wikipedia is not an authoritative source.

 

To academics! To everyone else it’s quite relevant. We aren’t here to discuss addiction in an academic setting. Rules of academia don’t apply here. I did notice that you ignored all the factual science quoted by my post tho, all of which is thoroughly cited. Nice deflection.

[LookingAround]

To academics! To everyone else it’s quite relevant. We aren’t here to discuss addiction in an academic setting. Rules of academia don’t apply here. I did notice that you ignored all the factual science quoted by my post tho, all of which is thoroughly cited. Nice deflection.

Lol you won’t quit will you. You make up your own little facts then denigrate anyone who disagrees.

[FTM Zachary Prince]

Lol you won’t quit will you. You make up your own little facts then denigrate anyone who disagrees.

 

Quoting scientific facts that are posted on the Internet and cited is making things up now? LOL... who’s the one denigrating who here? Nice deflection again.

[Zapped]

Well, why not beat a dead horse? What else do I have to do this evening?

 

Many words, including "addiction," have multiple valid dictionary definitions. (Skip over my bloviating if you want to jump to the OED definitions of "addiction.")

 

Our psychiatric and other physician friends have established for us that "addiction" as used as a medical diagnosis by psychiatrists and others who use the DSM-5 to guide their work (at least as far as terminology and, very importantly, insurance billing, goes) does not (yet) include compulsive behaviors not involving an external chemical substance. There's no "sex addiction" in the DSM-5, and so it doesn't exist as an officially recognized diagnosis.

 

On the other hand, there are many therapists and psychologists (and I assume at least some psychiatrists) who argue that some behaviors can accurately be called addictions. When it comes to "sex addiction," Dr. Patrick Carnes has taken the lead. I have a therapist friend who is being trained by Carnes and his associates to work with what they agree amongst themselves is "sex addiction."

 

Neither my psychiatrist nor my therapist have had a problem with me identifying as a "sex addict," although that's not the official diagnosis my psychiatrist uses (not could he for insurance purposes, since it's not in the DSM-5).

 

So there's the question of whether these therapists, lay people, etc. are being sloppy when we say "sex addiction," since it's not (yet) a medical term approved by the psychiatric establishment. Wikipedia, while it contains an increasing number of excellent entries, is still subject, for good reason, to skepticism; appeals to its authority are unconvincing to many of us. (While I sympathize with Zachary Prince's dismissal of "academics," I am one, and there's something to be said for checking the validity and authority of one's sources in this age of real and alleged "fake news." I'm also sympathetic to ZP's frustration with the DSM when it comes to trans issues.)

 

What are the valid, officially recognized definitions of "addiction"? Being a semi-retired academic and having free online access, I thought I'd look up the definitions of "addiction" in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), which is viewed by most scholars as the most authoritative English-language dictionary.

 

The first definition of "addiction" in the OED is:

 

1. a.

The state or condition of being dedicated or devoted to a thing, esp. an activity or occupation; adherence or attachment, esp. of an immoderate or compulsive kind.

 

[examples omitted]

 

1.b. Immoderate or compulsive consumption of a drug or other substance; spec. a condition characterized by regular or poorly controlled use of a psychoactive substance despite adverse physical, psychological, or social consequences, often with the development of physiological tolerance and withdrawal symptoms; an instance of this. Frequently with to (the addictive substance), or with distinguishing word.

 

[examples omitted]

Even the first definition of "addiction" contains multiple definitions!

 

1.a. is how lay people and many therapists use "addiction" in the context of "sex addiction." This way of using "addiction" as "adherence or attachments, esp. of an immoderate of compulsive kind" goes back, according to the OED, to the sixteenth century. 1532 or so: "An ouermoche addiction to priuate appetites, mixed with to moche heedinesse and obstinacy."

 

So calling compulsive sexual behavior an "addiction" is in keeping with centuries of English-language usage and the first definition in the OED. Lay people who refer to "sex addiction" are speaking accurately--as long as we don't assume we are using the narrower, officially-sanctioned medical diagnostic term.

 

No wonder people get frustrated!

 

This has been fun.

 

By the way, the other OED definitions (examples omitted) are:

 

2.

Predilection, inclination; an instance of this, a ‘penchant’. Obsolete.

 

3. The binding of a person to another as a servant, adherent, or disciple; (also) the state of being so bound. Frequently with to. Obsolete.

 

4. Roman Law. The formal delivery of a person or property to an individual, typically in accordance with a judicial decision.