What is sexual addiction?
Q: What is sexual addiction?
A: Sexual addiction is when people engage in sexual activities, particularly sexual intercourse, even if it results in negative consequences for them, such as relationship issues, legal problems, or health risks.
Q: What are some other terms used to describe this condition?
A: Sexual dependence is another term used to describe the condition in which people cannot control their sexual urges, behaviors, or thoughts. Other related models of pathological sexual behavior include hypersexuality, erotomania, Don Juanism or Don Juanitaism, and paraphilia-related disorders.
Q: Do all specialists agree that sexual addiction is a valid diagnosis?
A: No, there is considerable debate among psychiatrists, psychologists, sexologists, and other specialists regarding whether compulsive sexual behavior amounts to an addiction, and they also disagree on its classification and possible diagnosis.
Q: Is there any scientific evidence to support the existence of sexual addiction?
A: Yes, research on animals has shown that compulsive sexual behavior uses the same mechanism of action as drug addiction in laboratory animals.
Q: Are there any medical classifications that recognize sexual addiction as a valid diagnosis?
A: As of 2018, neither the DSM nor the ICD medical classifications acknowledge sexual addiction as a valid diagnosis.
Q: Can sexual addiction cause negative consequences for those who engage in it?
A: Yes, engaging in compulsive sexual behavior can result in negative consequences such as relationship issues, job loss, legal problems, and health risks such as sexually transmitted infections.
Q: Is sexual addiction the same as hypersexual disorder?
A: Hypersexual disorder is considered one of several sex-related disorders within an umbrella concept known as hypersexual disorder. While there is some overlap between sexual addiction and hypersexual disorder, they are not necessarily identical concepts.
