Sex addiction classified as medical, not moral, condition

A new classification of sex addiction as a mental disorder by the World Health Organization could shift the conversation surrounding a condition that’s often deeply misunderstood.

Experts who treat sex addictions hope the classification will help change the disorder’s perception from a moral failing to a medical problem.

“It takes it out of morality, it takes it out of religion, it just makes it about, ‘Does this person have this set of issues that’s affecting their lives?’ And either they do or they don’t,” said Robert Weiss, an addiction specialist and the author of “Sex Addiction 101” and “Always Turned On.”

In its new International Classification of Diseases, WHO defines “compulsive sexual health disorder” as a “persistent pattern of failure to control intense, repetitive sexual impulses or urges resulting in repetitive sexual behavior.”

The classification means that sex addiction – a term popularized before research designated the condition as compulsive sexual health disorder – can be diagnosed based on a list of criteria, which include:

❚ Repetitive sexual activities becoming the focus of a person’s life.

❚ Numerous unsuccessful efforts to reduce sexual behavior.

❚ Continued sexual activity despite deriving little satisfaction from it.

That shift resembles previous changes to how doctors viewed addic- tive disorders such as alcoholism, drug addiction and gambling.

“There was a time when alcoholism was a fatal illness, and there was no cure, and you were going to die of alcoholism because you were a bad person,” Weiss said.

“We don’t look at alcoholics and drug addicts and say, ‘You’re a bad person.’ We say, ‘You have a problem.’ ”

Experts hope the new classification will chip away at a larger goal: destig- matizing sex addiction. Treatment can range from therapy sessions to stays at rehabilitation facilities to simpler methods such as prayer and journaling, said Carol Juergensen Sheets, a certified sexual addiction therapist – but many people don’t seek it out.

“If somebody doesn’t know what to call this disease, this disorder, this illness, they will not know how to get help for it. They’ll continue to try to do it on their own,” Sheets said.

The cost of treatment ranges from free online services to pricey inpatient rehab programs. Typically, people with sex addictions seeking treatment will be covered by insurance companies only if they’re diagnosed with a concurring mental health disorder, such as anxiety or depression.

“We don’t look at alcoholics and drug addicts and say, ‘You’re a bad person,’ we say, ‘You have a problem.’ ” Robert Weiss Addiction specialist