Treating Sex ‘Addiction’

Is there really such a thing as sexual addiction ?

Not in the usual meaning of the word, says Paul R. Abramson, a professor of psychology at UCLA and a prominent author in the field of sexual psychology.

“We generally conceive of an addiction as a physiological dependence, which we can attempt to wean an individual of,” Abramson says. Viewing sexual excesses as the equivalent of alcohol or drug addiction is wrong, he says.

“Primarily, [sexual addiction] is really compulsive behavior. That’s not to say that someone cannot seem to be out of control. They can conceive themselves as having no volitional control over the behavior.”

Psychologists treat compulsive sexual behavior by trying to redirect the behavior into more acceptable channels. Trying to wean a person of a compulsion as if it were an addiction very seldom succeeds, Abramson says.