Term Paper on "Lifespan Developmental Psychology"

Term Paper 15 pages (4578 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Sexual Addiction results from an abuse of the natural sex drive that each person is born with. The abuse can start at any time in life and then progresses until it becomes a compulsion that the sexually addicted person cannot cope with. The sexual addiction eventually affects every part of the person's life, including self-respect, relationships with family and friends, and finances and career. It is a fix that the sexually addicted person will do just about anything to get, and usually hurt themselves in the process. Sexual addiction is a disease and nothing fun or romantic depicted in the movies is true.

For approximately 3-6% of the population (Gold, 1998, p. 367) the concept of sex brings forward feelings of dread, neglect, guilt, and so on. They feel out of control when it comes to sex, wanting to stop the regular prowl but continuously find themselves at peep shows, strip joints, in chat rooms and on the corner picking up prostitutes. Sex addiction can manifest itself in many forms, from the person who is online 5-7 hours a day, searching for pornography and talking about sex in all sorts of chat rooms, to the peeping tom that lives across the street and watches you change in the evening. But how does this behavior arise? What causes these people to lose control of a basic human instinct? The theories on sexual addiction are many, ranging from biological causes to socio-cultural influences. This paper will focus on Freud's theory of sexual addiction as it relates to sexual development and fixation upon a certain stage.

What is Sexual Addiction?

The concept is confusing and has only become part of psychologists' vocabulary in the past 50 years. The term was first used by Freud who had referred to masturbation as "the primal addiction" from which all other addictive disorders derive (Goodman, 1998, p. 101). Sexual addiction is however, a controversial concept. A single definition of the disorder has yet to be formed. Some refer to it as an addiction following the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders released by the American Psychiatric Association. (DSM-IV, 1994, p. 201)

Sexual addiction is often confused with a high sex drive. This conception is wrong and it is important to understand that a person with a high sex drive is actually satisfied with sex however the sex addict needs sex to medicate his feelings and to be able to cope with stresses in life. The sex addict spends much time in pursuit to find a way to satisfy this intense hunger. The debate over whether sexually compulsive behavior is an addiction or a psychosexual, obsessive-compulsive behavior disorder is ongoing.

When sex becomes an addiction, the individual may use pornography, masturbation, fantasy, or other sexual behavior to satisfy his needs. Further, this addiction interferes with their everyday lives, to include finances, intimate relationships, careers and self-esteem. (Earle, 1995, pp. 46-99). Sexual addiction can be divided into different categories, to include paraphilic compulsive sexual behavior and nonparaphilic compulsive sexual behavior. (Kornblum, 1997, pp. 144-146).

Nonparaphilic compulsive sexual behavior involves conventional sexual behaviors, that when taken to an extreme, are recurrent, distressing and interfere in daily functioning. This may include the compulsive search for multiple partners, fixation on an unattainable partner and compulsive masturbation. (Love, 1995, pp. 173-191)

Paraphilic compulsive sexual behavior involves unconventional sexual behavior which are obsessive and compulsive. These paraphilias are defined in the DSM-IV as "recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving nonhuman objects, or the suffering or humiliation of oneself or one's partners, or children or other non-consenting persons. This behavior, which consists of sexual urges or fantasies, cause significant distress in social and occupational areas of functioning.

As mentioned earlier, disagreement still exists as to whether this disorder is an addiction, a psychosexual developmental disorder, or an impulse control disorder. (DSM-IV, 1994, p. 227)

While the American Psychiatric Association does not currently recognize sex addiction as a mental illness, they have classifications that are helpful for understanding sexual behavior disorders. (Groneman, 2000, pp. 250-302) the most common paraphilias include:

Pedophilia - an adult's sexual attraction toward children

Exhibitionism - sexual excitement associated with exposing one's genitals in public

Voyeurism - sexual excitement from watching an unsuspecting person

Sexual masochism - sexual excitement from being the recipient of inflicted or threatened pain

Sexual sadism - sexual excitement from threatening or administering pain

Transvestic fetishism - sexual excitement from wearing the clothing of the opposite sex

Frotteurism - sexual excitement from touching or fondling an unsuspecting person

According to Groneman (2000), all of these disorders are characterized by recurrent, intense, sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges or behaviors involving:

Non-human objects

The suffering or humiliation of oneself or one's partner, children or other nonconsenting persons

Clinically significant distress in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning caused by the behavior, sexual urges or fantasies.

Sex addiction may include some obsessions & behavior caused by these disorders. Usually what is described as sex addiction, however, involves conventional, or non-paraphiliac, sexual behaviors that, when taken to an extreme, like alcohol, can interfere with daily functioning & produce guilt, shame & recurrent harm to oneself or others. (Azhar, 1999, p. 250)

The Levels of Sexual Addiction

Carnes states that there are three levels of sexual addiction (1992, p. 32). The first level, Level One, contains behaviors which are regarded as normal, acceptable or tolerable (e.g., masturbation, homosexuality, prostitution). "Addicts" in Level One usually do not see problems within themselves because their behavior is not constant nor do victims exist. They are able to rationalize their behavior. Level Two, by contrast, extends to those behaviors that are clearly victimizing and for which legal sanctions are enforced (e.g., exhibition, voyeurism). 'Addicts' have begun to feel out of control and are often the subject of jokes. At Level Three, the behaviors have grave consequences for the victims and legal consequences for the addicts such as incest, child molestation, or rape. Compulsivity in an individual at this level represents a severe progression of the addiction.

Although the term sex addiction is used by many, others believe that it may be a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder. The act of sex for most "addicts" reduces anxiety and other painful effects (Goodman, 1998, p. 99). When sexual activity is inhibited, "addicts" experience discomfort. Some psychologists have labeled the disorder as OCD's due to the similarity of some symptoms of the condition as well as similar responses to specific pharmacological and behavioral treatments. Compulsions, however, are defined in DSM-IV as "repetitive behaviors (e.g., hand-washing, ordering, checking) or mental acts (e.g., praying, counting, repeating words silently) the goal of which is to reduce anxiety or distress, not to provide pleasure or gratification" (DSM-IV, 1994, p. 219).

Some "addicts" will claim that sex has become something that no longer gives them pleasure, rather, it is something that they feel they must do. This leads to yet another theory on how sex addiction should be described. Goodman (1998) argued that this sexual syndrome should be designated as "sexual impulsivity," since it met the diagnostic criteria for atypical impulse control disorder.

According to DSM-IV, impulse-control disorders are defined as, "the failure to resist an impulse, drive, or temptation to perform an act that is harmful to the person or to others. The individual feels an increasing sense of tension or arousal before committing the act and then experiences pleasure, gratification, or relief at the time of committing the act. Following the act there may or may not be regret, self-reproach, or guilt" (DSM-IV, 1994 p.220). This definition seems to accurately characterize this sexual syndrome. With all of these possible definitions, one must look to the causes and treatments of the syndrome to discover its true form.

What Makes an Addict?

A regular occurrence in most sex 'addicts' is an abusive childhood. There have been many studies conducted looking for a connection between childhood sexual abuse and sexual addiction later in life. In one study that examined subjects suffering from sexual addiction (Carnes, 1992, p. 66), 82% of a sample of 233 men and 57 women in treatment for sexual addiction reported histories of sexual abuse as a child. These figures imply the question, why does childhood sexual abuse cause such a strange reaction later in life?

Children learn from their parents; they learn how to behave as a boy or girl from their same sex parent; they learn how to deal with relationships by watching their parents' relationship. If the family dynamic is strained in any way, they child will believe that it is the way to behave. If a child learns that sex is the main expression of emotion and intimacy, he or she will continue to believe that in order to have any relationship with someone, he or she will feel the need to have sex (Carnes, 1992, p. 44).

When a child is abused, not only does he or she develop these feelings of inadequacy but their basic human needs are not met. Children… READ MORE

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