November 28, 2016.
According to the Federative Institute for Behavioral Addictions (IFAC), sex addiction is comparable to a mental disorder. But should we consider it as a disease?
How do you define sex addiction?
How to define a sex addict? The symptoms of a person addicted to sex can be multiple: compulsive masturbation, addiction to pornography, paid sex, sex by phone or on the Internet … Sex addiction is associated with an excessive and increasing, uncontrolled frequency of sexual behavior that ultimately causes pain, especially psychologically, the addict.
But should that mean talking about illness? For Dr Sylvain Mimoun, gynecologist and specialist in sexuality, “ if it’s a real addiction, that is, someone who cannot do without acting sexually, whether with the partner or with oneself, to the point of preventing oneself from working, from living socially normally, classically, it becomes a pathology “, She explains in an interview for the site Why Doctor.
Disastrous consequences for personal life
According to a study published in 2012 in the Journal of sexual medicine, hypersexuality can have disastrous consequences for personal life : an inability to have balanced sexual relations (for 67% of those questioned), a slight deterioration in mental health (73%) and an emotionally injured (or a) romantic partner (68%).
When hypersexuality leads to these personal dramas, then one can consider hypersexuality to be an illness and decide to follow suit. To understand whether or not you have this pathology, it is necessary to determine if his sexuality is invasive and if it has consequences on his social and emotional life. If so, there are many therapies available. Just go see a specialist.
Read also: Measuring your level of addiction with Addict’Aide
