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All of this presupposes that sex addiction is real.
Thais Ramos Varela / Stocksy
It was rejected by the American Psychological Association for lack of enough research and empirical data.
Sex addiction is this nebulous umbrella term, and its problematic, he tells SELF.
When youre addicted to something, you pursue it pathologically, ASAM notes.
Certainly, sex can become out of control.
While some experts say sex doesn’t lead to comparable neurological effects, many sex addiction therapists disagree.
With drugs and alcohol, an external substance alters the neurochemistry of the body.
With things like compulsivesex, internal mechanisms are creating neurobiological and neurochemical [changes], Katehakis says.
Thats fundamentally true, as seen during the normalsexual response cycle.
When youre excited, physiological changes, like the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine, abound.
Humans have very malleable brains, so these become adaptive patterns.
She believes that truesexaddiction happens because the person needs that flood of feel-good feelings.
The use of sex creates a dopaminergic [dopamine-related] rush.
Research on the subject is mixed.
Thats basically AASECTs stance.
Many experts also posit that focusing on someones so-called sex addiction can mask theirmental healthissues.
It could be that they use masturbation as a balm for crushing anxiety, for example.
This method can work for people troubled by their sexual urges and those with compulsive sexual behavior.
Rather than trying to change something, we need to acknowledge it and embrace it, Aaron says.
Sex addiction therapists often take a different approach, at least in the beginning.
Another major divergence between the two groups is the subject of shame.
Many harm reduction proponents attempt to diminish it, especially when it comes to taboo and/or illegal subjects.
If they have a rape fantasy, they feel like rapist.
If they have child fantasy, they feel like child molester.
Other therapists work to stoke it.
Sex addicts need to feel some shame about what theyre doing, because they are shameless.
When people are shameless, they rape and murder and steal and pillage and get intopolitics, Katehakis says.
But this is different fromshamingsomeone, she says.
Shaming in an unprincipled way is out of bounds [for a mental health professional], she explains.
That would include saying or even implying that someone is disgusting based on what theyre doing.
Were looking to restore peoples sexuality to something positive, Katehakis says.
Were all in agreement that we want people to have vital,healthy sex lives.
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