(Untitled)

[0psych0]

Do you think sex addiction is a real mental illness? Why or why not?

Comments

[slinkslowdown]

Addiction is a mental illness, period. If a person is clinically addicted to something [not OMG I'M ADDICTED TO CHOCOLATE I JUST ATE 5 CANDY BARZZZZZZZ], then they have a mental illness.

[kimie_catclaw]

Yup

[miss_october]

Indeed. Addiction just manifests itself differently in people. For some it's food, others it's drugs, booze, shopping, sex,etc.

[xhallucinationx]

See, I don't believe you can be addicted to food either. Or, if you can, then everyone is addicted to food. You need it to LIVE. People can rely on it for comfort or punishment to the exclusion of other things for emotional or psychological reasons, but those reasons are the problem, not the food itself. Alcoholics may have reasons like this that they started drinking frequently (though they also might not), but once they're addicted it's the alcohol itself that's causing the problems and more addiction

[marquiswildbill]

Addiction is definitely a real disease, and the trigger stimuli can be pretty much anything that causes intense feelings, good or bad.

[ekaterinnile]

I think it can be, but I'm skeptical when, for example, people (especially celebrities) use it to justify cheating on their partners/spouses. Clinically, addiction is something that disrupts a person's ability to function in what is considered a normal way. I mean, I'm not Tiger Woods' therapist, but sleeping around didn't seem to disrupt his ability to function normally until he got caught...

[0psych0]

This is pretty much how I see it as well. I don't doubt that real addiction of any kind should be considered a mental illness, but I do feel that some people use it as an excuse to cheat or when they are caught cheating. But I think it's also possible for that to be the case with other types of addictions. I agree that it depends alot on the extent to which it disrupts a person's life.

[ekaterinnile]

Yeah, that's true. My state's stupid ex-governor Blagojevich is claiming to be addicted to drugs so that he can serve part of his sentence in rehab, which I think is probably a load of shit.

[braidedmane]

Absolutely. Addiction itself is the illness, not what specifically the addiction is to.

[dewdropsonrosa]

I agree.

[mofoburrell]

Yes, I'm pretty sure this is the right answer.

Like if your OCD prevented you from crossing bridges, it's not like "OCD with respect to bridges" is the disorder. The bridges part is just the particular manifestation of it. Similarly, I don't think the subject of an addiction is the interesting part so much as the fact that the psyche itself is disordered.

[iamenergy]

Yep.

[lightningxsnow]

I think it is, but that term has been way overused. You are probably not a sex addict for having a handful of casual partners, watching porn, or even seeing a sex worker.