Slate's Dan Engber discusses the history of sex-as-addiction in the medical community, noting, "the 1973 discovery of opiate receptors in the brain made it clear that our normal pleasure response is something like a scaled-down version of a drug high… If activities like eating and sex could activate the same pleasure centers as heroin, morphine, and cocaine, it was a small step to assume that repeated behavior might generate its own dependency." But Engber adds that shrinks are still arguing over the meaning of addiction in general. "Some argue that the euphemistic use of dependence has done little to eliminate the stigma associated with the condition," he writes. "Others see the medicalization of behavior—sexual or otherwise—as a form of social control."

Today's Wall Street Journal lists some of the criteria of sex addiction. Executive director of the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health Robin Cato tells the Journal: "You need to ask yourself: Is this a secret? Are you spending money on it you don't have? How does it affect your job or your marriage? What would happen if you were caught?" The Journal adds that sex addicts are frequently narcissists, and whether or not you believe sex addiction exists, it probably doesn't hurt for people who think about no one but themselves to go through a treatment that makes them realize other people are affected by their actions.

Sex Dramedy [Slate]
Is Sex Addiction A Sickness, Or Excuse To Behave Badly? [WSJ]

Earlier: Not Quite Enough Sympathy To Go Around For The Sex Addict
Maybe So-Called Sex Addicts Should Enroll In 12-Step Programs

We're on the brink of a truly pivotal national election; devastating hurricanes rise up in the Caribbean each passing day; people are dying in Iraq; women are going missing, the center is not holding, people. And we're supposed to muster up that last bit of sympathy for yet another (I'm sure painful and unfortunate!) disorder? Especially when those who suffer from said disorder, according to an article in Newsweek, "feel like the world revolves around them"? And in addition, a therapist who specializes in treating sex addicts says, "There's a lot of narcissism and arrogance with people like this."

I try to be an incredibly sympathetic person to other people's plights. But in this big wide world, people who fuck too much are pretty low on my list of those to expend mental energy feeling bad for, hovering just above the pampered brats from Exiled who are forced to clean up elephant dung.

No Sympathy For The Sex Addict [NYT]
Another Kind of Addict [Newsweek]

Earlier: David Duchovny Needs Sexual Healing