Sex Addiction or Cheating?
Is cheating a result of sex addiction or just an excuse?
Every now and then we hear of shocking news about a celebrity, a politician, or a sports icon publicly admitting that he or she cheated or is under fire for alleged paramour--which is followed by the unending media frenzy from tabloids to evening news to late night show parodies. Under the cloud of exposure, however, news may get our attention either because it sounds ridiculous or it makes a lot of sense: news about this cheating as a result of sex addiction.
It seems like every time these people get caught cheating, they check into a rehab to cure for "sex addiction." David Duchovny and Eric Benet did it. Tiger Woods followed. And now, Cong. Anthony Weiner joins the club of an ever increasing high caliber list. The impression is, it is almost automatic that when these people cheat, they check themselves for "sex addiction" treatment. So now we ask, "Why sex addiction comes into play? Why not say it is plain and simple cheating? And why won't they admit that they just did something bad?"
There is a lot of debate about what constitutes sex addiction. At present, there are no clearly defined criteria regarding it, which can lead to a slew of over diagnoses. The problem with this is everyone who cheats may use sex addiction as an alibi. And so we have to go back to the symptoms of "sex addiction" in order to identify or know who is suffering from it and who is just riding the tide.
One major symptom of sex addiction is an obsession, a strong desire, and a physical and psychological dependence on sexual acts. And you know you are addicted to sex if you feel you are unable to control your sexual desire that may have adverse effects like relationship problems. It also means that you are dwelling most of your time thinking of or engaging in to sex that you pay for a prostitute to satisfy the desire. Excessive use of pornographic materials can also be a telltale sign of addiction.
All these should be prolonged, repetitive and not one-time event fueled by too much drug or alcohol. It's not driven by other people. It's driven by a compulsive behavior--spending too much time thinking about it while you are trying to resist the temptations. It's driven by impulsive behavior--you keep on sleeping with other people.
The reason why sex addicts need help is because they cannot control they behavior or simply keep on making wrong decisions. But then you cannot certainly say one is an addict right away. Hence, a full evaluation is necessary to determine what really is the underlying problem, which makes it an almost certainty that whenever someone popular admits on TV that he or she cheats, a rehab check-in may follow.
Every now and then we hear of shocking news about a celebrity, a politician, or a sports icon publicly admitting that he or she cheated or is under fire for alleged paramour--which is followed by the unending media frenzy from tabloids to evening news to late night show parodies. Under the cloud of exposure, however, news may get our attention either because it sounds ridiculous or it makes a lot of sense: news about this cheating as a result of sex addiction.
It seems like every time these people get caught cheating, they check into a rehab to cure for "sex addiction." David Duchovny and Eric Benet did it. Tiger Woods followed. And now, Cong. Anthony Weiner joins the club of an ever increasing high caliber list. The impression is, it is almost automatic that when these people cheat, they check themselves for "sex addiction" treatment. So now we ask, "Why sex addiction comes into play? Why not say it is plain and simple cheating? And why won't they admit that they just did something bad?"
There is a lot of debate about what constitutes sex addiction. At present, there are no clearly defined criteria regarding it, which can lead to a slew of over diagnoses. The problem with this is everyone who cheats may use sex addiction as an alibi. And so we have to go back to the symptoms of "sex addiction" in order to identify or know who is suffering from it and who is just riding the tide.
One major symptom of sex addiction is an obsession, a strong desire, and a physical and psychological dependence on sexual acts. And you know you are addicted to sex if you feel you are unable to control your sexual desire that may have adverse effects like relationship problems. It also means that you are dwelling most of your time thinking of or engaging in to sex that you pay for a prostitute to satisfy the desire. Excessive use of pornographic materials can also be a telltale sign of addiction.
All these should be prolonged, repetitive and not one-time event fueled by too much drug or alcohol. It's not driven by other people. It's driven by a compulsive behavior--spending too much time thinking about it while you are trying to resist the temptations. It's driven by impulsive behavior--you keep on sleeping with other people.
The reason why sex addicts need help is because they cannot control they behavior or simply keep on making wrong decisions. But then you cannot certainly say one is an addict right away. Hence, a full evaluation is necessary to determine what really is the underlying problem, which makes it an almost certainty that whenever someone popular admits on TV that he or she cheats, a rehab check-in may follow.
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