sex addiction: real or not?
this came across a mailing list of generally-respected researchers (mostly poly-oriented, generally pro-sex):
While there maybe such a thing as sex addiction, the vast majority of people
who are described that way aren't disordered at all. Some of these people,
for instance, would not have a problem if they could be open and honest
about their sexuality-- but the social contexts they live in don't allow
that. You can point out that because monogamy is the only option, and sex
is so distorted by the society, people who are not monogamous are caught in
an unsolvable situation. Rather than being able to be open and honest about
their situation, they are forced to be false to themselves, or lie to
others. They have the ultimate Catch-22-- and whatever they do amounts to a
sane response to an insane situation.
The analogy to homosexuality is obvious. Homosexuality used to be in the
DSM as a mental disorder. If you were gay, the only options 50 years ago
were to repress your true identity, or be destroyed financially and
socially, and maybe physically as well. Given an impossible set of
circumstances, people will respond in a variety of dysfunctional ways. When
there are only dysfunctional choices, it is impossibly not to be
dysfunctional.
So "sex addiction" is often a dysfunctional response to a social situation
in which there are only dysfunctional responses available. The solution is
to change the context so that there are truly non-dysfunctional responses
available.
--Michael Rios
for more information on the movement *against* "sexual addiction" as a pathology, i suggest reading Dr. Marty Klein's 2002 keynote address to AASECT's AGM: Sex Addiction: A Dangerous Clinical Concept
thoughts? discuss.
While there maybe such a thing as sex addiction, the vast majority of people
who are described that way aren't disordered at all. Some of these people,
for instance, would not have a problem if they could be open and honest
about their sexuality-- but the social contexts they live in don't allow
that. You can point out that because monogamy is the only option, and sex
is so distorted by the society, people who are not monogamous are caught in
an unsolvable situation. Rather than being able to be open and honest about
their situation, they are forced to be false to themselves, or lie to
others. They have the ultimate Catch-22-- and whatever they do amounts to a
sane response to an insane situation.
The analogy to homosexuality is obvious. Homosexuality used to be in the
DSM as a mental disorder. If you were gay, the only options 50 years ago
were to repress your true identity, or be destroyed financially and
socially, and maybe physically as well. Given an impossible set of
circumstances, people will respond in a variety of dysfunctional ways. When
there are only dysfunctional choices, it is impossibly not to be
dysfunctional.
So "sex addiction" is often a dysfunctional response to a social situation
in which there are only dysfunctional responses available. The solution is
to change the context so that there are truly non-dysfunctional responses
available.
--Michael Rios
for more information on the movement *against* "sexual addiction" as a pathology, i suggest reading Dr. Marty Klein's 2002 keynote address to AASECT's AGM: Sex Addiction: A Dangerous Clinical Concept
thoughts? discuss.