Weinstein a ‘predator, not addict’

FALLEN Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has reportedly checked in to a US rehabilitation centre that treats male sex addicts, but experts say such therapy is unlikely to help.

English comic actor Russell Brand, golfer Tiger Woods and actor Michael Douglas are among the high-powered celebrities who have proclaimed they were battling sex addiction – after their philandering was revealed.

While psychologists typically refrain from diagnosing someone from afar, some say Weinstein – who is accused of sexually assaulting a string of actresses over the years – fits the profile of a sexual predator, not an addict.

“I think you can control your impulses. He just decided not to do so,” said Holly Richmond, a sex therapist in Los Angeles.

Therapists are also divided on whether sex addiction even exists. The leading psychiatry reference, known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, updated in 2013, does not include sex addiction. Its authors decided it did not fit the definition of a psychological disorder.

“There is no evidence that sex addiction treatment actually works,” said David Ley, a psychologist in New Mexico and author of the book The Myth of Sex Addiction. “After 40 years, there is not a single published study that shows that sex addiction treatment has a positive effect or actually helps people change their sexual behaviour,” he said.

Sex addiction was often an excuse for avoiding personal responsibility, he said. — AFP

Pictures: AFP, GETTY IMAGES PREDATOR: US film producer Harvey Weinstein, left, alongside a composite picture of women in the industry who have spoken out against him and claimed to have been been sexually abused by him