Is Sex Addiction a Real Problem or Just an Excuse to Behave Badly?

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
by Kiri Blakeley 16 hours ago

You would think with all of the news we've heard about sex addiction in the past few years, there'd be no doubt that it's a real addiction, much like drug or alcohol addiction. But a new study shockingly says sex addiction is no addiction at all! The study says that people who have so-called "sex addictions" are really just people who like to -- get ready for this shocker -- have a lot of sex.

The study showed "hypersexual" people -- the types who engage in a lot of sex or have had serious repercussions over their sexual exploits -- pictures of people having sex and expected that their brain waves would "spike" the same way that cocaine addicts have a brain spike when shown pics of toot. But apparently that didn't happen.

Sure, maybe some people need more sex just the way some people need more water or sleep, and this doesn't make him or her an "addict." But hopefully those people are figuring out how to do lots and lots of shebanging without ruining their lives or those of their spouses.

Perhaps the problem is that "hypersexual" people live in a society that demands fidelity to an extreme degree (like sex with one person for the next 50 years -- yeah, that's extreme), and they don't quite realize that they are hypersexual until they've walked down the aisle. But I would say in that case, better to get divorced than to cheat with anyone you can get your hands on.

Other experts say that sex addiction -- even sexting addiction -- is quite real. And considering a bonafide sexting addict might be the next mayor of New York City, this is quite a newsy topic.

Yet Anthony Weiner, who had now admitted to sexting no less than THREE women after his resignation from Congress, insists he's no sexting addict, narcissistically blathering:

I don't believe that it is. The people that I am working with don't believe that it is.

Okay, Anthony, but the "people" you work with are 22-year-old high school dropouts who are sexting you back, so that doesn't count. Haha. Anyway, I can't quite decide if Anthony is deluded or he's being refreshingly candid, given that everyone is so quick to blame their foibles on an addiction these days.

Some psychologists (obviously not the ones "treating" Anthony) say sexting addiction is quite real. I personally believe that any compulsion you have an overriding desire to engage in, even if it is to your detriment, is an addiction of sorts.

Even if there's no big negative consequences but you are using the activity, whatever it is, to avoid your thoughts, feelings, intimacy, or clarity -- that is addiction-like behavior. If you consistently choose to fiddle with your iPhone rather than engage in actual conversation with an actual human being, that's an addiction, IMHO.

Remember, everything in moderation!

Do you think sex addiction is real?

Image via DanielLito311/Flickr

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