Sexual addictions

Today, Representative Anthony Weiner resigned. He did so amid the calls of hecklers and indelicate questions of the media. His wife was not present.

Sex addiction is controversial and there is some question about whether or not it even exists. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not list sex addiction among various accepted addictions.

But when the behavior crosses over into an unhealthy crutch – a way of avoiding or escaping other problems – then it may in fact be an addiction and a problem that needs specific treatment. Sex addiction is characterized by out of control behavior. Think of the alcoholic that can’t be satisfied with just one or two or three drinks. Sex addiction is compulsive. It’s the doctor that can’t stop groping nurses, the businessman who uses his expense account for prostitutes, and the man who can’t find a job because he can’t walk away from the online porn.

Some psychologists estimate that three to five percent of people are sex addicts. With the privacy and popularity of the internet sex, it’s hard to know for sure who is abusing readily available sex sites. It is believed that men outnumber women, but again, women aren’t so quick to come forward in our culture.

“People joke that if they are going to have an addiction, that’s the one they want to have,” said therapist Stephanie Carnes, author of the book “Mending a Shattered Heart”. But we can all see from the devastation left in the wake of Rep. Weiner’s indiscretions that it’s not an envious position to be in. He has become a joke, but he has a serious problem.

Source: Reuters