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The Sex Addiction Myth

Length: 12:00
Type:  Lecture
Description: The Sex Addiction Myth is a compassionate look at the label of sexual addiction for men. It is another viewpoint as well as a path to healing for sexually compulsive men.

Excerpt:

All too often, we describe compulsive behaviors as addiction. The term ”addiction” has been over-used, particularly in reference to sex. Many compulsive behaviors are simply the self-medication of pain. If you are indeed using chemicals of one kind or another to self-medicate, at some point, given the right genetics, your brain will change and you can develop an addiction in addition to the pain that was being medicated before. 

Modern psychology seems to be turning to symptom management rather than problem solving. So instead of looking for and resolving the underlying cause, it is simpler to treat the surface behavior. In some cases, it is necessary to deal with the symptoms before getting to the underlying issues. But pathologizing a man’s sexuality will not be helpful in the long run. When you deal with the underlying issue, the compulsive behavior simply goes away. 

Sexual compulsivity or hyper sexuality can be a symptom of an underlying issue, and not simply an addiction. Is there someone out there that is truly addicted to sex?   It may be possible, but I have not seen it in practice and brain researchis not supportive of a sexual addiction diagnosis.

There appears to be a growing push back against the diagnosis of sexual addiction among mental health professionals. It is not even listed in the new DSM 5, the bible of pathological disorders for psychotherapists

So if it is not addiction, what is it?