Myths About Sex Addiction pt. II

CLICK HERE to read part one.

Myth: Sex addicts are the same as sex offenders.

Sexual offending is a legal term to describe the actions of someone who sexually forces himself on another person without the other person’s knowledge or consent. Rape, child molestation, and sexual battery are forms of violent sexual offending and are treated as felonies. Exhibitionism, voyeurism, and frotteurism (touching others personal body parts without permission) are also considered offenses, though carrying a lesser misdemeanor type of legal charge. While some may cross the line into offending behaviors as a part of the escalation of their addictive problem, the majority of sex addicts do not become sexual offenders.

Myth: Sex Addiction is a sign of some other mental illness.

Quite often in the recent past, people who demonstrated addictive sexual problems were misdiagnosed and even prescribed medications to treat mental conditions they didn’t actually have. Misdiagnosis isn’t unreasonable; there are several major mental disorders that do present hyper-sexuality (having a lot of sex) as a possible symptom, Bi-polar disorder being one such example. However sexual addiction often a ‘stand alone’ problem, with the related problems of depression and anxiety gradually clearing once the sexual acting itself has stopped.

Myth: Being involved in BDSM, cross-dressing, or a fetish makes you a sex addict.

Healthy human sexual and romantic relationship expression is a naturally diverse. People whose sexual interests and modes of relating are considered to be “atypical” can pursue their form of pleasure and abandon without exhibiting mental health pathology. Although these scenes do attract their share of sex and drug addicts, living an “alternative sexual lifestyle” does not make you a sex addict.