Sex Addiction

Sex Addiction

  • Submitted By: ippi76
  • Date Submitted: 10/07/2008 3:23 PM
  • Category: Psychology
  • Words: 2027
  • Page: 9
  • Views: 4

Nymphomania, hyper sexuality, sexual addiction, sexual perversion, and sexual obsession are all words for essentially the same addiction- the addiction to sex. Sex is of course an extremely broad term, and as a result, defining exactly what sexual addiction is can be very difficult. A person can be obsessed with masturbation or online pornography, yet not with sexual intercourse, but still be labeled as a sex addict. With sex historically being a controversial and taboo subject, sex addiction is a relatively new field of study for psychologists. Many people deny that sex addiction even exists, and some say people’s sex drives merely vary from person to person and that there is no such thing as having too much. Lately, though, sex addiction is receiving new attention, particularly with the widespread use of the Internet as an easy way of expressing sexual feelings. Sex addiction is all too real to the people who actually experience it, and it is a severe problem for anyone inflicted with it, regardless or age, gender, ethnicity, or social status.
Sexual addiction is broadly defined by many psychologists as a “progressive intimacy disorder characterized by compulsive sexual thoughts and acts.”(Herkov 1) The addiction is said to be of this kind because the behaviors of sexual addicts progress over time, usually to more perverse or extreme forms of sexual expression. Sex addiction is called an intimacy disorder by some because it is linked to a need to feel intimacy with another person, which is often not just sexual intimacy, but emotional intimacy as well. Like many other addictions, such as alcohol or cocaine, the sex addict must intensify his or her addictive behavior over time to achieve the same
Mitchell 2
results, akin to an alcoholic needing more drinks over time to feel intoxicated. In addition, the negative effects of sexual addiction are spread to other people more and more as the addiction continues. Sex addiction can manifest itself in many...

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