Index
- What is sex addiction?
- What are the causes?
- What are the symptoms?
- How is it diagnosed?
- What is the treatment to follow?
- What specialist treats it?
What is sex addiction?
Sex addiction is a behavior that the patient cannot control and affects his or her sexual behavior, causing dependence and abstinence. Sex addiction is also known as Sexual Compulsive Disorder.
On the other hand, it implies the presence of recurrent impulses, fantasies and thoughts of a sexual nature that lead the subject to perform compulsive behaviors to satisfy himself.
What are its causes?
Among the causes that can lead to sex addiction, three groups stand out, depending on their origin:
- Environmental: school failure, dysfunctional and troubled family or having suffered abuse in childhood.
- Biological: dopamine, serotonin and noradrenaline levels.
- Psychological: people with low self-esteem who find in sex an escape route to their personal, social and emotional problems.
What symptoms does it present?
Pleasurable behavior, such as sex, becomes a need and gives rise to the following symptoms:
- Recurrent thoughts about sex throughout the day or week.
- Need to perform the behavior, even though it is not performed.
- Explicit sexual behaviors.
- Need to increase the intensity and frequency of the sexual behavior.
- Denial of the problem.
- Fallacy of control.
Sexual contact alleviates the symptoms, but does not eliminate them. So that the subsequent reappearance of the symptom can push the subject to the immediate repetition of the behavior.
Sex addiction implies: presence of impulses, fantasies and constant thoughts of a sexual nature.
How is it diagnosed?
To determine that a person is addicted to sex, he/she must meet the first four requirements:
- Loss of control over their urges.
- Experiencing withdrawal syndrome.
- Developing a strong psychological dependence.
- Loss of interest in other activities.
However, there are a number of other factors that also make it possible to identify when a person manifests symptoms of sex addiction. These are:
- Irritability when the behavior cannot be performed.
- Frequent preoccupation with sexuality.
- There are more sexual behaviors than desired.
- Much of the time is spent pursuing activities of a sexual nature.
- Strong desire along with inability to control it.
What is the treatment to follow?
The treatment of sex addiction must be individualized, given the diversity of causes that can lead to its appearance. The two most frequent treatment groups are: pharmacological and psychotherapeutic.
Pharmacological treatment includes:
- Serotonin reuptake inhibitors at high doses.
- Antiandrogens and bupropion.
- Topiramate and naltrexone.
Psychotherapeutic treatment combines cognitive-behavioral therapy with group therapy and self-help groups. It is frequent to resort to couple therapy to rebuild the damaged relationship.
Which specialist treats you?
The psychologist will be the specialist in charge of diagnosing and treating sex addiction.