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Is Sex an Addiction?

Is Sex an Addiction?. By: Kelly Dawald Minnesota State University Moorhead. Brief Overview. Addiction Sex Addiction Two Sides of Debate Evaluation of Sides Conclusion. What is Addiction?. Definition of addiction according to the DSM-III-R (Goodman, 1990) Powerlessness & Unmanageability

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Is Sex an Addiction?

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  1. Is Sex an Addiction? By: Kelly Dawald Minnesota State University Moorhead

  2. Brief Overview • Addiction • Sex Addiction • Two Sides of Debate • Evaluation of Sides • Conclusion

  3. What is Addiction? • Definition of addiction according to the DSM-III-R (Goodman, 1990) • Powerlessness & Unmanageability • Webster’s Definition of addiction (2006) • Psychological or physiological dependence on anything; a compulsion. • Permanent Disorder of the Brain (Psychology Today, 2004)

  4. What is Sex Addiction? • Sexual activity that goes beyond normal practices to point of losing control(Ewald, 2003) • Consequences • Addicted to neuro-chemical changes

  5. Sexual Addiction • 15 million people affected in U.S.(Carnes) • Characteristics of sex addiction(www.sexaddictionhelp.com) • Sex is shameful • Sex is a secret (e.g. Pastors) • Sexual behavior is abusive • Stems from an unhealthy childhood(Ewald, 2003)

  6. Sexual Addiction (Cont’d) • Narcissistic Personality(Birchard, 2004) • Carried into adulthood • Try to find ways to reduce pain, may turn into an addiction • Why addicted to sex? • Preoccupation with sex • Prevalence of sex in childhood

  7. Sexual Addiction (Cont’d) • Narcissistic Personality Disorder(DSM-IV-TR) • Need for admiration • Fantasies • Interpersonally exploitative • Arrogant behaviors

  8. Addiction Cycle • Four Stage Cycle(Hall, 2006) • Preoccupation Stage • Ritualization Stage • Engaging in Sexual Act • Despair • Repeat…

  9. Media and the Internet • Sex is everywhere(Longo-Disse, 2006) • Sex sells! • Accessibility to sex on internet • 4.2 million porn sites, 12% of all websites (Hall, 2006) “Virtual Cheating”(Daneback et al., 2006)

  10. DSM-IV-TR Dependence • Criteria for dependence(Hagedorn & Juhnke, 2005) • Certain drugs listed don’t have any physiological dependence • 3 of 7 criteria has to be met • Tolerance and withdrawal not essential

  11. ‘Sex Addiction’ Evaluation • Stems from childhood • Means of coping with psychological pain • Definition of addiction • Narcissistic Personality traits • Sex can be related to substances that are actually diagnosed as dependence

  12. Case Study

  13. Labeling Perspective • Mental illnesses are culturally constructed because of ideas that deviate from the norm(Levine & Troiden, 1988) • Nominal Fallacy: give something a name to understand it • Circular Reasoning

  14. Explanation for Mental Disorders • Constructed by health professionals to create order in society(Levine & Troiden, 1988) • Placing stigmatizing labels to behaviors out of the norm • Feel better about the unknown when it has a name • Sense of understanding

  15. Addiction • Affected by certain primary factors(Peele, 2000) • Cultural • Social & Ethnic Factors • Situational • Traumatic, Developmental, & Ritualistic Factors • Cognitive • Beliefs & Social Learning • Values • Stable & Evolving Values

  16. ‘Sex is not an Addiction’ Evaluation • Mental disorders are socially constructed • Created to enforce conformity in society • Addiction is based off of your values

  17. Conclusion • Still a heated debate • Sex as an addiction has more scientific reasoning • Discussion of including sexual addiction and compulsivity into DSM-V (Delmonico, 2005) • Additional research needed

  18. THE END • Thank You • Questions?

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