Sex addiction is a taboo subject in many societies and it is difficult to talk about, either because of shame or because it is frowned upon. On the other hand, being addicted to food is a typical quality of humans, so it is not so frowned upon.
Does sex addiction (also known as hypersexual disorder ) really exist or is it a condition that should not be directly categorized as a disorder? What can be the causes of having a significantly higher sexual desire than the average of the population?
Find out what exactly is sex addiction and its possible causes.
Why do some people have hypersexual disorder?
One study focused on 106 men, 67 of them were diagnosed with hypersexual disorder and the other 39 were considered “healthy.” The study researchers wanted to link this disorder to stress levels, so participants in the “healthy” group were asked to take an immune depressant drug known as dexamethasone . This was done so that the team behind the study could detect if there were levels of cortisol and corticotropin, hormones that are found in different parts of the body, and that are related to stress .
The study found that people with hypersexual disorders actually had much higher levels of stress compared to the control group. In addition to stress levels, other underlying problems such as depression and childhood trauma were found to exist.
Excess stress is almost always found in depressed and suicidal patients, as well as in drug addicts. In recent years, attention has focused on childhood trauma that can lead to dysregulation of stress systems in the body through so-called epigenetic mechanisms , that is, the possibility that psychosocial environments can influence genes that they control the systems.
Therefore, the researchers suggest that sex addiction is nothing more than a symptom of deeper problems that manifests itself during sexual encounters and that perhaps the best treatment for people suffering from this problem would be to follow a psychotherapy that can help treat the disorder.
References
- Alexa Erickson, Is S * X Addiction Real? Science Says The Verdict is Still Out. For Bodyrock [Revised November 2015]
