In other news, I'm addicted to oxygen...

... despite the fact that the death rate for oxygen users is 100%.

It's news stories like this that really piss me off.

The general message of the article: Sex is addictive; therefore sex is bad, even masturbation. Don't have sex.

Like most articles about "sex addiction", this article makes no distinction whatsoever between the two types of addiction- despite, in its mention that "sex addicts usually crave intimacy", coming close to the truth about the situation.

First is physical (or physiological) addiction. This is where the functions of the human body become dependent upon supply of a substance which it previously did not require. Nicotine, cocaine, heroin, and amphetamines (including caffeine) induce this type of addiction, which requires medical aid to cure.

The other, and much more common, form of addiction is psychological addiction. This is where a person depends on a particular substance or activity for the continued function of their mind. Whereas physical addiction can occur with well-adjusted individuals with only a single dose of a drug, psychological addiction usually requires a psychological need to salve- for example, a bulemic's self-loathing, or a video game addict's desire to escape his or her ordinary life.

The key point to this distinction is this: any activity or substance which brings pleasure to those who partake of it has the potential to be psychologically addictive.

Anything.

There are two ways to address this problem: to seek out the roots of the obsession involved, and treat those, or else attack the subject of the obsession, denigrate it, and make it undesirable.

The media never, ever, EVER takes the first option. They never say, "Lonely people soothe their lives through recreational sex." They say, "Sex addiction, on the rise, destroys lives." Instead of pointing to the loneliness that causes obsessive-compulsive sex, they attack sex itself as causing addiction, as potentially turning ANY person into an addict.

And this article is more even-handed than most on the subject, by actually mentioning that for most sex addicts the act is a substitute for intimacy and affection missing from their lives. Most articles don't even mention that- they act as if sex addiction can strike anyone without warning. That's nonsense; many people gamble without becoming compulsive gamblers, many people drink alcohol without becoming addicted to it (although excessive booze can lead to a physical dependency, given time), and many people have casual sex or masturbate without it taking over their lives.

And yet, when people in need of something to fill a hole in their lives seek comfort or pleasure through these activities and become addicted, we don't focus on the addictive personality, or the lack in their life that leaves the hole to be filled by the obsession. We focus on what they're addicted to, in the belief that taking away the proscribed activity will stop them from being addicted to something else.

The hell with that.

Folks, the fact that you enjoy sex and have a lot of it does not make you a sex addict. Don't let your prudish fellow man tell you otherwise. Sex only becomes an addiction if you cannot stop yourself from having it- if it becomes a compulsion that disrupts the rest of your life. The same goes for other fun activities: if you play video games four hours a day, but keep up your job, pay your bills, feed and bathe yourself, etc., you're not an addict.

There are addictive substances, but there is no addictive activity unless there's an addictive personality involved. When someone says that an activity is addictive and thus should be restricted, take it with a large grain of salt. More often than not, they're less interested in protecting those prone to addiction than in banning the activity because they personally disapprove of it.

And the next time some reporter talks about sex addiction, tell them where they can shove it.

(Or, alternately, send pictures. }:-{D )

In other news, I'm addicted to oxygen...

... despite the fact that the death rate for oxygen users is 100%.

It's news stories like this that really piss me off.

The general message of the article: Sex is addictive; therefore sex is bad, even masturbation. Don't have sex.

Like most articles about "sex addiction", this article makes no distinction whatsoever between the two types of addiction- despite, in its mention that "sex addicts usually crave intimacy", coming close to the truth about the situation.

First is physical (or physiological) addiction. This is where the functions of the human body become dependent upon supply of a substance which it previously did not require. Nicotine, cocaine, heroin, and amphetamines (including caffeine) induce this type of addiction, which requires medical aid to cure.

The other, and much more common, form of addiction is psychological addiction. This is where a person depends on a particular substance or activity for the continued function of their mind. Whereas physical addiction can occur with well-adjusted individuals with only a single dose of a drug, psychological addiction usually requires a psychological need to salve- for example, a bulemic's self-loathing, or a video game addict's desire to escape his or her ordinary life.

The key point to this distinction is this: any activity or substance which brings pleasure to those who partake of it has the potential to be psychologically addictive.

Anything.

There are two ways to address this problem: to seek out the roots of the obsession involved, and treat those, or else attack the subject of the obsession, denigrate it, and make it undesirable.

The media never, ever, EVER takes the first option. They never say, "Lonely people soothe their lives through recreational sex." They say, "Sex addiction, on the rise, destroys lives." Instead of pointing to the loneliness that causes obsessive-compulsive sex, they attack sex itself as causing addiction, as potentially turning ANY person into an addict.

And this article is more even-handed than most on the subject, by actually mentioning that for most sex addicts the act is a substitute for intimacy and affection missing from their lives. Most articles don't even mention that- they act as if sex addiction can strike anyone without warning. That's nonsense; many people gamble without becoming compulsive gamblers, many people drink alcohol without becoming addicted to it (although excessive booze can lead to a physical dependency, given time), and many people have casual sex or masturbate without it taking over their lives.

And yet, when people in need of something to fill a hole in their lives seek comfort or pleasure through these activities and become addicted, we don't focus on the addictive personality, or the lack in their life that leaves the hole to be filled by the obsession. We focus on what they're addicted to, in the belief that taking away the proscribed activity will stop them from being addicted to something else.

The hell with that.

Folks, the fact that you enjoy sex and have a lot of it does not make you a sex addict. Don't let your prudish fellow man tell you otherwise. Sex only becomes an addiction if you cannot stop yourself from having it- if it becomes a compulsion that disrupts the rest of your life. The same goes for other fun activities: if you play video games four hours a day, but keep up your job, pay your bills, feed and bathe yourself, etc., you're not an addict.

There are addictive substances, but there is no addictive activity unless there's an addictive personality involved. When someone says that an activity is addictive and thus should be restricted, take it with a large grain of salt. More often than not, they're less interested in protecting those prone to addiction than in banning the activity because they personally disapprove of it.

And the next time some reporter talks about sex addiction, tell them where they can shove it.

(Or, alternately, send pictures. }:-{D )