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Hypersexuality

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Hypersexuality is a clinical diagnosis used by mental healthcare researchers and providers to describe extremely frequent or suddenly increased sexual urges or sexual activity. The terms nymphomania and satyriasis were once used to describe the condition, in women and men respectively, but are no longer in general medical use, although the former is still used colloquially.

Hypersexuality may be a primary condition, or the symptom of another medical disease or condition, for example Klüver-Bucy syndrome or bipolar disorder. Hypersexuality may also present as a side effect of medication such as drugs used to treat Parkinson's disease, or through the administering of hormones such as testosterone and estrogen during hormone therapy. Clinicians have yet to reach a consensus over how best to describe hypersexuality as a primary condition,[1][2][3] or to determine the appropriateness of describing such behaviors and impulses as a separate pathology.

Hypersexual behaviours are viewed variously by clinicians and therapists as: an addiction;[4][5] a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or “OCD-spectrum disorder”; or a disorder of impulsivity. A number of authors do not acknowledge such a pathology[6] and instead assert that the condition merely reflects a cultural dislike of exceptional sexual behavior.[7][8]

Consistent with there not being any consensus over what causes hypersexuality,[9] authors have used many different labels to refer to it, sometimes interchangeably, but often depending on which theory they favor or which specific behavior they were studying. Contemporary names include compulsive masturbation, compulsive sexual behavior,[10][11] cybersex addiction, erotomania, “excessive sexual drive”,[12] hyperphilia,[13] hypersexuality,[14][15] hypersexual disorder,[16] problematic hypersexuality,[17] sexual addiction, sexual compulsivity,[18] sexual dependency,[8] sexual impulsivity,[19] “out of control sexual behavior”,[20] and paraphilia-related disorder.[21][22][23]

Terminology[]

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines hypersexual as "exhibiting unusual or excessive concern with or indulgence in sexual activity".[24] Sexologists have been using the term hypersexuality since the late 1800s, when Krafft-Ebing described several cases of extreme sexual behaviours in his seminal 1886 book, Psychopathia Sexualis.[25][9] The author used the term "hypersexuality" to describe conditions that would now be termed premature ejaculation. Terms to describe males with the condition include donjuanist,[26] satyromaniac[27] and satyriasist,[28] for women nymphomaniac,[29] while hypersexualist is a gender neutral term.[30]

Other, mostly historical, names include Don Juanism, the Messalina complex,[31] and nymphomania.[32]

Causes[]

There is little consensus among experts as to the causes of hypersexuality. Some research suggests that some cases can be linked to biochemical or physiological changes that accompany dementia. Psychological needs also complicate the biological explanation, which identifies the temporal/frontal lobe of the brain as the area for regulating libido. Persons suffering from injuries to this part of the brain are at increased risk for aggressive behavior and other behavioral problems including personality changes and socially inappropriate sexual behavior such as hypersexuality.[33] The same symptom can occur after unilateral temporal lobotomy.[34] There are other biological factors that are associated with hypersexuality such as premenstrual changes, and the exposure to virilising hormones in childhood or in utero.[35]

In research involving use of anti-androgens to reduce undesirable sexual behaviour such as hypersexuality, testosterone has been found to be necessary, but not sufficient, for sexual drive.[36] Other proposed factors include a lack of physical closeness, and forgetfulness of the recent past.[37]

Pathogenic overactivity of the dopaminergic mesolimbic pathway in the brain—forming either psychiatrically, during mania,[38] or pharmacologically, as a side effect of dopamine agonists, specifically D3-preferring agonists[39][40]—is associated with various addictions[41][42] and has been shown to result among some in overindulgent, sometimes hypersexual, behavior.[38][39][40]

As a symptom[]

Hypersexuality is known to present itself as a symptom in connection to a number of mental and neurological disorders. Some people with borderline personality disorder (sometimes referred to as BPD) can be markedly impulsive, seductive, and extremely sexual. Sexual promiscuity, sexual obsessions, and hypersexuality are very common symptoms for both men and women with BPD. On occasion for some there can be extreme forms of paraphilic drives and desires. "Borderline" patients, due in the opinion of some to the use of splitting, experience love and sexuality in unstable ways.[43]

People with bipolar disorder may often display tremendous swings in sex drive depending on their mood. As defined in the DSM-IV-TR, hypersexuality can be a symptom of hypomania or mania in bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder. Pick's disease causes damage to the temporal/frontal lobe of the brain; people with Pick's disease show a range of socially inappropriate behaviors.[44]

Several neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, autism,[45][46] various types of brain injury,[47] Klüver–Bucy syndrome,[48] Kleine–Levin syndrome,[49] and many more neurodegenerative diseases can cause hypersexual behavior. Sexually inappropriate behavior has been shown to occur in 7-8% of Alzheimer's patients living at home, at a care facility or in a hospital setting. Hypersexuality has also been reported to result as a side-effect of some medications used to treat Parkinson's disease.[50][51] Some street drugs, such as methamphetamine, may also contribute to hypersexual behavior.[52]

A positive link between the severity of dementia and occurrence of inappropriate behavior has also been found.[53] Hypersexuality can be caused by dementia in a number of ways, including disinhibition due to organic disease, misreading of social cues, understimulation, the persistence of learned sexual behaviour after other behaviours have been lost, and the side-effects of the drugs used to treat dementia.[54] Other possible causes of dementia-related hypersexuality include an inappropriately expressed psychological need for intimacy and forgetfulness of the recent past.[55] As this illness progresses, increasing hypersexuality has been theorized to sometimes compensate for declining self-esteem and cognitive function.[37]

As a disorder[]

Template:Main article Hypersexuality may negatively impact an individual. The concept of hypersexuality as an addiction was started in the 1970s by former members of Alcoholics Anonymous who felt they experienced a similar lack of control and compulsivity with sexual behaviors as with alcohol.[7][56] Multiple 12-step style self-help groups now exist for people who identify as sex addicts, including Sex Addicts Anonymous, Sexaholics Anonymous, Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, and Sexual Compulsives Anonymous.

Template:As of, a proposal to add Sexual Addiction to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) system has failed to get support of the American Psychiatric Association (APA).[57][58][59] The DSM does include an entry called Sexual Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (Sexual Disorder NOS) to apply to, among other conditions, "distress about a pattern of repeated sexual relationships involving a succession of lovers who are experienced by the individual only as things to be used".[60]

The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) of the World Health Organization (WHO), includes two relevant entries. One is "Excessive Sexual Drive" (coded F52.7),[61] which is divided into satyriasis for males and nymphomania for females. The other is "Excessive Masturbation" or "Onanism (excessive)" (coded F98.8).[62]

Some authors have questioned whether it makes sense to discuss hypersexuality at all, arguing that labeling sexual urges "extreme" merely stigmatizes people who do not conform to the norms of their culture or peer group.[7]

See also[]

Template:Portal

  • Erotophilia
  • Persistent genital arousal disorder
  • Pornography addiction
  • Sexual Compulsivity Scale

References[]

  1. ↑ Stein, D. J. (2008). Classifying hypersexual disorders: Compulsive, impulsive, and addictive models. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 31, 587–592.
  2. ↑ Bancroft, J., & Vukadinovic, Z. (2004). Sexual addiction, sexual compulsivity, sexual impulsivity or what? Toward a theoretical model. Journal of Sex Research, 41, 225–234.
  3. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  4. ↑ Orford, J. (1985). Excessive appetites: A psychological view of the addictions. Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons.
  5. ↑ Carnes, P. (1983). Out of the shadows: Understanding sexual addiction. Minneapolis, MN: CompCare.
  6. ↑ Levine, S. B. (2010). What is sexual addiction? Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 36, 261–275.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Template:Cite journal
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Rinehart, N. J., & McCabe, M. P. (1997). Hypersexuality: Psychopathology or normal variant of sexuality? Sexual and Marital Therapy, 12, 45–60.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Kafka, M. P. (2010). Hypersexual Disorder: A proposed diagnosis for DSM-V. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 377–400.
  10. ↑ Quadland, M. C. (1985). Compulsive sexual behavior: Definition of a problem and an approach to treatment. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 11, 121–132.
  11. ↑ Coleman, E. (1990). The obsessive–compulsive model for describing compulsive sexual behavior. American Journal of Preventive Psychiatry & Neurology, 2, 9–14.
  12. ↑ Template:Cite web
  13. ↑ Money, J. (1980). Love and love sickness. The science of sex, gender difference, and pair bonding. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  14. ↑ Miller, B. L., Cummings, J. L., & McIntyre, H. (1986). Hypersexuality and altered sexual preferences following brain injury. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 49, 867–873.
  15. ↑ Orford, J. (1978). Hypersexuality: Implications for a theory of dependence. British Journal of Addiction, 73, 299–310.
  16. ↑ Krueger, R. B., & Kaplan, M. S. (2001). The paraphilic and hypersexual disorders. Journal of Psychiatric Practice, 7, 391–403.
  17. ↑ Kingston, D. A., & Firestone, P. (2008). Problematic hypersexuality: Review of conceptualization and diagnosis. Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity, 15, 284–310.
  18. ↑ Dodge, B., Reece, M., Cole, S. L., & Sandfort, T. G. M. (2004). Sexual compulsivity among heterosexual college students. Journal of Sex Research, 41, 343–350.
  19. ↑ Kafka, M. P. (1995b). Sexual impulsivity. In E. Hollander & D. J. Stein (Eds.), Impulsivity and aggression (pp. 201–228). Chichester, England: John Wiley.
  20. ↑ Bancroft, J. (2008). Sexual behavior that is "out of control": A theoretical conceptual approach. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 31, 593-601.
  21. ↑ Kafka, M. P. (1994). Paraphilia-related disorders: Common, neglected, and misunderstood. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 2, 39–40.
  22. ↑ Kafka, M. P. (2000). The paraphilia-related disorders: Nonparaphilic hypersexuality and sexual compulsivity/addiction. In S. R. Leiblum & R. C. Rosen (Eds.), Principles and practice of sex therapy (3rd ed., pp. 471–503). New York: Guilford Press.
  23. ↑ Kafka, M. P. (2001). The paraphilia-related disorders: A proposal for a unified classification of nonparaphilic hypersexuality disorders. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 8, 227–239.
  24. ↑ Template:Cite web
  25. ↑ Krafft-Ebing, R. von (1886/1965). Psychopathia sexualis: A medico–forensic study (H. E. Wedeck, Trans.). New York: Putnam.
  26. ↑ Template:Cite book
  27. ↑ Template:Cite book
  28. ↑ Template:Cite book
  29. ↑ Template:Cite book
  30. ↑ http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/jen-gerson-feel-free-to-opt-for-the-epidural-sans-guilt-new-moms
  31. ↑ Orford, J. (1978). Hypersexuality: Implications for a theory of dependence. British Journal of Addiction, 73, 299-320.
  32. ↑ Ellis, A., & Sagarin, E. (1965). Nymphomania: A Study of oversexed women. London: Ortolan.
  33. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  34. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  35. ↑ Catalan, (1995). Hypersexuality revisited, The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 6:2, 255–258.
  36. ↑ Catalan, J. and Singh, A., "Hypersexuality Revisited", The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry Volume 6, Issue 2, 1995.
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Robinson, K. M. (2003). Understanding Hypersexuality: A Behavioral Disorder of Dementia. Home Healthcare Nurse: The Journal for the Home Care and Hospice Professional, 43-47.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Template:Cite journal
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Template:Cite web
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Template:Cite journal
  41. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  42. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  43. ↑ Template:Cite book
  44. ↑ Template:Cite book
  45. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  46. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  47. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  48. ↑ Template:Cite web
  49. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  50. ↑ Vogel, H. P., & Schiffter, R. (1983). Hypersexuality: A complication of dopaminergic therapy in Parkinson's disease. Pharmacopsychiatria, 16, 107-110.
  51. ↑ Uitti, R. J., Tanner, C. M., & Rajput, A. H. (1989). Hypersexuality with antiparkinsonian therapy. Clinical Neuropharmacology, 12, 375-383.
  52. ↑ Mansergh, G., Purcell, D. W., Stall, R., McFarlane, M., Semaan, S., Valentine, J., et al. (2006). CDC consultation on methamphetamine use and sexual risk behavior for HIV/STD infection: Summary and suggestions. Public Health Reports, 121, 127-132.
  53. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  54. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  55. ↑ Karen M. Robinson, DNS, RN, DS, FAAN. (Jan 2003). Understanding Hyper sexuality, A Behavioral Disorder of Dementia. Home Healthcare Nurse. Vol.21, no.1.
  56. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  57. ↑ Template:Cite news
  58. ↑ Template:Cite news
  59. ↑ Template:Cite web
  60. ↑ American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text revision). Washington, DC: Author.
  61. ↑ Template:Cite web
  62. ↑ Template:Cite web

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