Hypersexual Disorder Or Just A High Sex Drive? The Profile Of A Sex Addict

The urge to slip beneath the sheets and intertwine your body with your partner is human nature. No one can deny the euphoria of orgasm that overcomes your body from brain to genitals. It’s satisfying for some, but for others, it’s never enough. While everyone’s sex drive varies, when does the preoccupation with sexual fantasies and behavior turn from a high sex drive to addiction?

1. Sex Addiction In Pop Culture

Sex addiction, clinically known as hypersexual disorder, first came into the limelight when actor Michael Douglas spent time in rehab in the early 1990s for sex addiction. Douglas, along with celebrities like David Duchovny and Tiger Woods, have publicly come out to profess a sex addiction. Despite these testimonies and movies like Shame and Thanks For Sharing touching upon the taboo topic, many still perceive sex addiction as an excuse for “bad behavior.”

2. Science Gets Underneath It All

A gray area exists in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) on sex addiction, despite the 12 million people who suffer from it in the U.S., according to the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. The term “sexual addiction” first showed up in the DSM-III in 1980, but was removed in the 1994 edition due  to lack of research. Now the DSM-V touches upon it, but very lightly, in a section on sexual disorders: “Research suggests that sexual response is not always a linear, uniform process and that the distinction between certain phases (e.g., desire and arousal) may be artificial.”

The lack of classification as a mental disorder may make sex addicts’ partners believe they’re in reason for perceiving it as an escape hatch for infidelity, but researchers contest it is a real disorder that has the possibility of ruining careers, destroying relationships, and even leading to further health problems.

Dr. Fran Walfish, Beverly Hills psychotherapist, author, and expert panelist on WE TV’s Sex Box, told Medical Daily that in her clinical experience, the majority of sex addicts she’s treated were very professional, wealthy men in a range of professions, who are respected in their fields of choice.

“Nobody knows about this private behavior,” she said. “You cannot tell by looking on the outside who has experienced these early traumas.  It can be anyone walking among us.”

A 2012 study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine supports the notion of sex addiction as a diagnosis-worthy disorder. The researchers evaluated the participants by measuring their hypersexuality, impulsivity, emotional deregulation, and stress proneness in relation to sex addiction. These patients reported excessive masturbation, use of pornography, cybersex, sex with prostitutes, affairs, and multiple anonymous partners, averaging 15 partners in the previous 12 months.

The team also proposed criteria for this disorder, which included a recurring pattern of symptoms, such as sexual fantasies, urges, and behaviors lasting a period of six months or longer not caused by other issues like substance abuse or another medical condition. Moreover, the researchers said individuals who might be diagnosed with this disorder must show a pattern of sexual activity in response to unpleasant mood states, or a pattern of repeatedly using sex to cope with stress.

Despite the proposed criteria, sex addiction is still not officially recognized, but brain scans may help bring it a step closer to medical acceptance.