Sexual Addiction or Hypersexual Disorder: Different Terms for the Same Problem? A Review of the Literature

Abstract

Sexual addiction, which is also known as hypersexual disorder, has largely been ignored by psychiatrists, even though the condition causes serious psychosocial problems for many people. A lack of empirical evidence on sexual addiction is the result of the disease's complete absence from versions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. However, people who were categorized as having a compulsive, impulsive, addictive sexual disorder or a hypersexual disorder reported having obsessive thoughts and behaviors as well as sexual fantasies. Existing prevalence rates of sexual addiction-related disorders range from 3% to 6%. Sexual addiction/ hypersexual disorder is used as an umbrella construct to encompass various types of problematic behaviors, including excessive masturbation, cybersex, pornography use, sexual behavior with consenting adults, telephone sex, strip club visitation, and other behaviors. The adverse consequences of sexual addiction are similar to the consequences of other addictive disorders. Addictive, somatic and psychiatric disorders coexist with sexual addiction. In recent years, research on sexual addiction has proliferated, and screening instruments have increasingly been developed to diagnose or quantify sexual addiction disorders. In our systematic review of the existing measures, 22 questionnaires were identified. As with other behavioral addictions, the appropriate treatment of sexual addiction should combine pharmacological and psychological approaches. Psychiatric and somatic comorbidities that frequently occur with sexual addiction should be integrated into the therapeutic process. Group-based treatments should also be attempted.

Conceptualisation, évaluation et traitement de la dépendance cybersexuelle : Une revue de la littérature.

“…Il est ainsi extrêmement facile, pour une personne « à risque », de s'adonner à la cybersexualité dans une variété de contextes, sans risquer de se faire identifier, rapidement, et en disposant d'un accès à une gamme quasi illimitée de contenus pornographique. Karila et al, 2014a). Néanmoins, il est encore difficile pour les cliniciens et les chercheurs francophones d'évaluer ce trouble à l'aide d'instruments validés en langue française.…”

“…Une variété de termes sont d'ailleurs utilisés pour parler de ce trouble : compulsion sexuelle, sexualité impulsive, hypersexualité, dépendance sexuelle, ou encore addiction sexuelle (Gilliland, South, Carpenter & Hardy, 2011;Karila et al, 2014a). Actuellement, la prévalence du trouble varierait entre 3 et 6 % (Coleman, 1992;Daneback, Ross & Månsson, 2006); Wetterneck, Burgess, Short, Smith et Cervantes (2012) suggèrent une augmentation de celle-ci depuis l'apparition d'Internet et des nombreux sites à caractère sexuel.…”

Sexual Desire, Mood, Attachment Style, Impulsivity, and Self-Esteem as Predictive Factors for Addictive Cybersex (Preprint)

“…Excessive involvement in cybersex is usually described as excessive and poorly controlled use of Internet-based sexual activities that leads to problems or functional impairment and persists despite such difficulties [12,13]. No consensus has been achieved about the conceptualization of this disorder [10,14], although it is commonly considered to be cybersex addiction [15][16][17][18].…”

Sexual addiction in drug addicts: The impact of drug of choice and poly-addiction

“…1 This lack of knowledge justifies the controversy over the nomenclature, each label implying different assumptions on etiological mechanisms. 2 Due to similarities with substance addictions, many authors consider sexual addiction as the most appropriate denomination. In this article, we use the terms addiction and dependence interchangeably.…”