Addiction To Sex Is On The Rise- Study

Amid the reports of rape cases and sexual predation, a new study has found that sex addiction is on the rise.
This new finding revealed by researchers at the University of Minnesota states that 10 per cent of men and seven percent of women are in a constant battle to control their sexual urge and thoughts.

The research which was carried out in America shows that the number of people struggling with difficult-to-control urges is creating concern for psychologists.

Many have attributed the rise to access to explicit content online and casual sex. Psychiatrist Dr Janna Dickenson adds that it is as a result of the number of important personalities who have confessed to being addicted to sex.

She said:“From Tiger Woods to Harvey Weinstein, news articles have conjectured that ‘sex addiction’ is a growing and heretofore unrecognized ‘epidemic,’ while the scientific community debates whether such a problem even exists.”

“Specifically, compulsive sexual behaviour disorder (CSBD) is characterized by a persistent pattern of failure to control intense, repetitive sexual urges, which results in repetitive sexual behaviour that causes marked distress or social impairment.

“Such distress and impairment include neglecting social activities or personal health, repeatedly attempting to control sexual behaviour unsuccessfully, and continuing to engage in sexual behaviour despite adverse consequences or even when the individual derives minimal pleasure from his or her sexual activities.”

The study used a sample of 2,325 adults, 50.5 percent of whom were women between the ages of 18 and 50 who had participated in the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior in 2016.

Findings revealed that 7 per cent of women and 10.3 per cent of men (8.6 percent of the sample) -experienced different levels of distress associated with difficulty controlling sexual urges.

“Explanations justifying the hypothesis that CSBD may be much more common among men than women have been vague, although some researchers have pointed to differences in male sexuality with regard to intrinsic sexual motivation, ease of arousal, and more permissive attitudes toward casual sex.”

“Such explanations tap into the sociosexual culture that underlies conceptualizations of masculine ideology, in that male sexuality as ‘irrepressible,’ and suggest that when men get more access to sexual ‘outlets,’ they may be more prone to developing compulsive sexual behaviour.”

Contrary to the belief that women are not or less interested in sex, feminine expression has shown that the significance between men and women’s sexual behaviour is close.

“Given recent cultural shifts toward becoming more permissive of female sexual expression and the proliferation inaccessibility to sexual imagery and casual sex through the internet, software applications, and social media, one possible explanation for the smaller gender differences found in our study is that the prevalence of difficulty controlling sexual behaviours among women may be increasing.”

This, the study implies warrants attention: “The high prevalence of this sexual symptom has major public health relevance as a sociocultural problem and indicates a significant clinical problem that warrants attention from healthcare professionals.

“Moreover, gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, and income differences suggest potential health disparities, point to the salience of sociocultural context of CSBD and argue for a treatment approach that accounts for minority health, gender ideology, and sociocultural norms and values surrounding sexuality and gender.”