Health Home >>  >>   

Sex addiction a mental health disorder: Experts

Written by: QMI Agency
Oct. 19, 2012

(Shutterstock)

Researchers have proposed a new set of criteria to determine if someone is a sex addict, and they now want the disorder added to the official guide used by the psychiatric profession.

In order to differentiate "hypersexual disorder" from a garden-variety keen interest in sex, several symptoms have to be present, according to the team of psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and other therapists, led by Prof. Rory Reid of UCLA.

Mainly, the individual isn't able to stop or reduce their sexual behaviours even though they cause "personal distress" and interfere with relationships or work.

The individual would also have a pattern of using sexual activity in response to depression, stress or other unpleasant moods; and the recurring fantasies, urges or behaviours would last for six months or longer but aren't attributable to some other cause like substance abuse or bipolar disorder.

The researchers tested their criteria on 207 patients around the U.S. and found they accurately identified those with hypersexual disorder 88% of the time. Just as importantly, they were able to accurately rule out the disorder 93% of the time, indicating their method does "a good job" of telling the difference between sex addicts and patients with other conditions.

"Hypersexual disorder" is not yet classified as a mental health condition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, but the group hopes, based on their findings, it will be included in the next revision of the manual.

Results of the study appear in the current edition of the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

View more news