Dr. Ziv Cohen, a forensic psychiatrist says that "the gold standard by which we think of addiction is determined by how substances, behaviors or activities trigger certain brain responses."
This is neurobiological evidence of addiction, which researchers have seen in people who gamble or consume drugs or alcohol, but mostly not in those who have been identified as addicted to sex or pornography.
For this reason, sex addiction has previously been rejected for inclusion in the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a manual used by health care professionals as a guide for diagnosing mental disorders. However, people are still being treated or seeking support for the problems of sex addiction.
According to doctors, the symptoms of addiction include "little control over behavior, social harm, continued use despite clear physical risks and other risks to the individual, etc."
The fact that "sex addiction" is not a real addiction does not mean that people's problems with sex are not real. Brain activity is not the only way in which mental health professionals identify and diagnose a disorder. What needs to be considered more than anything is if this problem is interfering with this person’s ability to function in different aspects of life!
In conclusion, is there a "sex addiction"? Yes and no.
Source: CNN
