The ICD criteria also cautions against conflating violating social or cultural norms with having a clinical condition.
Its just been a matter of debate about what we call it.
But unlike the phrase compulsive sexual behavior disorder, most people are familiar with the term sex addiction.
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Its also long been used by the mental health professionals that counsel people with these issues.
In some ways, the comparison makes perfect sense.
There is also some evidence to suggest that the mechanism behind this kind of sexual behavior is addictive.
But the evidence isnt definitive, at least not yet.
That paper also concluded that the growing body of research is still rife with holes.
And Reid points out that despite some overlap, CSBD also lacks key features associated with addiction.
tolerance-building) and being restless or irritable when trying to cut down or stop gambling (e.g.
What we call something in public discourse shapes our understanding of what the issue is.
Coleman fears that the term sex addiction is so overused and imprecise that it has lost significance.
It has a lot of connotations that dont really reflect what the condition is about.
Even more importantly, the label we give the condition also has ramifications for how we treat it.
For example, addiction treatment typically involves abstaining from the thing the person is addicted to.
It doesnt make any sense.
Its also entirely possible that there are multiple disorders underpinning these displays of behavior.
It was initially categorized as an impulse control disorder, because thats what the limited evidence pointed to.
We could see a similar trajectory for compulsive sexual behavior disorder.
It’s too early to tell at this point.
(Providers will be able to use the ICD diagnostic code to bill insurance, for instance.)
He thinks giving therapists accurate guidelines to identify the issue is more important.
Compulsive sexual behavior disorder is fine by me.
And the WHO has just provided us with exactly that.
There are some of these scientific nuances, but I think for the person out there who’s struggling.
they’re not going to really differentiate between what we label it, he says.
