If your sex life gets you into trouble, does that make you a sex addict 鈥� or just someone who has made some bad choices? The debate over sex addiction has taken a new twist, as guidelines are being drawn up that may recognise sexual compulsivity as a mental disorder.
Sex addiction usually hits the headlines when someone famous gets caught behaving badly and lays the blame on their 鈥渄isorder鈥�. Celebrities such as Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey have reportedly sought treatment for sex addiction recently.
But many health professionals say sex addiction isn鈥檛 a real illness. Even in the US, where the idea is most popular, this diagnosis does not feature in the official textbook of psychiatric illnesses, called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
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Soon those who support the idea of sex addiction could get some support from an alternative set of diagnostic guidelines, from the World Health Organization.
The WHO has put out for consultation an updated version of its .聽The document was聽originally going to include sex addiction, but after debate this was softened to聽鈥溾��, defined as a persistent pattern of failure to control intense sexual impulses. But it鈥檚 still more controversial than聽the old category聽of 鈥渆xcessive sexual drive鈥�, which was聽more neutral about possible causes.
But sceptics say the idea of addiction or compulsive behaviour around sex is just a way for people to duck responsibility for misbehaviour.
Another problem with the concept is that there is no evidence-based 鈥渢reatment鈥� available at sex addiction clinics. They usually provide group therapy along the lines of 12-step programmes for alcohol or drug addiction. But this has not been shown to work for people who think they are addicted to sex.
Most people who believe they are sex addicts either have other kinds of sexual problems, or are misguided about what a normal sex drive is because of a religious upbringing, says Nicole Prause of , a US sexual biotechnology company.
Prause says there is no evidence that people who have a lot of sex meet the 鈥� such as escalation or withdrawal symptoms on stopping. And some studies also suggest mental and physical benefits to having a lot of sex, rather than it being a problem.
