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Current Pharmaceutical Design

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1381-6128
ISSN (Online): 1873-4286

Sexual Addiction or Hypersexual Disorder: Different Terms for the Same Problem? A Review of the Literature

Author(s): Laurent Karila, Aline Wery, Aviv Weinstein, Olivier Cottencin, Aymeric Petit, Michel Reynaud and Joel Billieux

Volume 20, Issue 25, 2014

Page: [4012 - 4020] Pages: 9

DOI: 10.2174/13816128113199990619

Price: $65

Abstract

Sexual addiction, which is also known as hypersexual disorder, has largely been ignored by psychiatrists, even though the condition causes serious psychosocial problems for many people. A lack of empirical evidence on sexual addiction is the result of the disease’s complete absence from versions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. However, people who were categorized as having a compulsive, impulsive, addictive sexual disorder or a hypersexual disorder reported having obsessive thoughts and behaviors as well as sexual fantasies. Existing prevalence rates of sexual addiction-related disorders range from 3% to 6%. Sexual addiction/ hypersexual disorder is used as an umbrella construct to encompass various types of problematic behaviors, including excessive masturbation, cybersex, pornography use, sexual behavior with consenting adults, telephone sex, strip club visitation, and other behaviors. The adverse consequences of sexual addiction are similar to the consequences of other addictive disorders. Addictive, somatic and psychiatric disorders coexist with sexual addiction. In recent years, research on sexual addiction has proliferated, and screening instruments have increasingly been developed to diagnose or quantify sexual addiction disorders. In our systematic review of the existing measures, 22 questionnaires were identified. As with other behavioral addictions, the appropriate treatment of sexual addiction should combine pharmacological and psychological approaches. Psychiatric and somatic comorbidities that frequently occur with sexual addiction should be integrated into the therapeutic process. Group-based treatments should also be attempted.

Keywords: Sexual addiction, sex addict, sexual dependence, impulsivity, compulsive sexual behavior, compulsive sex, sexual compulsion, excessive sexual behavior, hypersexual, and hypersexuality


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