Nothing sexy about sex addiction
Courtney Kaminski
Issue date: 10/15/08 Section: Opinion
Since young people typically live a life of excesses - a lot of caffeine, shopping, junk food, exercise, drinking, and yes, sex - it is only logical that they could be at risk for developing habits early on that could lead to more dangerous problems later on. These excesses also make it easy to sit back and look at your roommate who picks a different girl up at the bar every weekend, and accuse him of being a sex addict.
However, it is important to realize that there is a key difference between promiscuity and sexual addiction. Your roommate may be happy regaling you with stories about the casual sex she had last night, but for sex addicts the sex is not happy sex. Like any addiction the behaviour is merely the process to get to the big payoff at the end, which for sex addicts is the usually the release of chemicals in the brain that one experiences during climax.
Many people have started a new relationship and during that lovely honeymoon phase, have found themselves having sex with their partner non-stop. And when it comes to sexuality, it is very easy to fall into the trap as viewing yourself or your sexual habits as abnormal. But ultimately, there are four main characteristics that identify a sex addiction. First, the sex or the preoccupation with sex is compulsive, it is not a choice - it feels out of control and pursued in spite of the harm it may cause to the individual and those they love. Second, attempts to change it or moderate it fail and third, it serves a psychological function for the individually. And finally, it is problematic for the individual.
The fourth characteristic is probably the most important because it addresses the old adage, "It's only a problem if it's a problem".
Treatment options are available, and like any addiction, they involve rehab, therapy and ideally working the 12-step program.
In the end, while the celebrity of sex addiction may cause many people to unnecessarily question their own sexual habits - as well as causing many teenage boys to wish they could meet a female sex addict - ultimately the more attention that the issue is given the more likely it is to become a legitimate disorder in the medical field.
I hope that Duchovny will be able to successfully overcome his issues, not only because it would be good press for the sexual addiction disorder, but also because I would hate for Californication to be a casualty of it. Call me sex obsessed if you want, but a show about a sex addict makes for good television.
However, it is important to realize that there is a key difference between promiscuity and sexual addiction. Your roommate may be happy regaling you with stories about the casual sex she had last night, but for sex addicts the sex is not happy sex. Like any addiction the behaviour is merely the process to get to the big payoff at the end, which for sex addicts is the usually the release of chemicals in the brain that one experiences during climax.
Many people have started a new relationship and during that lovely honeymoon phase, have found themselves having sex with their partner non-stop. And when it comes to sexuality, it is very easy to fall into the trap as viewing yourself or your sexual habits as abnormal. But ultimately, there are four main characteristics that identify a sex addiction. First, the sex or the preoccupation with sex is compulsive, it is not a choice - it feels out of control and pursued in spite of the harm it may cause to the individual and those they love. Second, attempts to change it or moderate it fail and third, it serves a psychological function for the individually. And finally, it is problematic for the individual.
The fourth characteristic is probably the most important because it addresses the old adage, "It's only a problem if it's a problem".
Treatment options are available, and like any addiction, they involve rehab, therapy and ideally working the 12-step program.
In the end, while the celebrity of sex addiction may cause many people to unnecessarily question their own sexual habits - as well as causing many teenage boys to wish they could meet a female sex addict - ultimately the more attention that the issue is given the more likely it is to become a legitimate disorder in the medical field.
I hope that Duchovny will be able to successfully overcome his issues, not only because it would be good press for the sexual addiction disorder, but also because I would hate for Californication to be a casualty of it. Call me sex obsessed if you want, but a show about a sex addict makes for good television.
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Amanda Larson
posted 10/17/08 @ 12:20 PM EST
The writer has done a good job of outlining sex addiction - both what it is, and what it is not. While it's easy to joke about sex addiction (we've all done it), the truth is that sex addiction destroys families, couples, and lives. (Continued…)
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