‘Sexoholics’ benefit from treatment, says researcher

Press, 21 May 1987, Page 22

‘Sexoholics’ benefit from treatment, says researcher

By

SUZANNE MALICH

NZPA-AP Minneapolis People who crave sex so strongly that they jeopardise their families and careers to satisfy their urges can benefit from treatment similar to that given to alcoholics, researchers say. “People will go to great lengths, and will risk things of great value to them,” said Mr Eli Coleman, associate direc- i tor of the Programme in Human Sexuality at the University of Minnesota Medical School and chairman of the nation's first conference on sex addiction. “They will risk their own lives, their jobs, their families,” he said. More than 250 professionals, including sexologists and mental health experts, attended the two-day conference. No-one is certain of the causes of sex addic-' tion.

People addicted to sex said their craving was similar to an alcoholic wanting a drink or a drug addict wanting a fix, Mr Coleman said. “One example is that they cannot carry on an ordinary conversation with a friend without those thoughts. It starts to become pervasive” with them,” he said. Researchers are not sure how many Americans suffer from sex addiction, largely because the study of sexual compulsivity is fairly new. But another researcher, Patrick Carnes, an author, had estimated that one of every 12 Americans was sexually addicted, Coleman said. “I think it is similar to alcoholics in that it is very difficult for us to draw a clear line between healthy use and an abusive, addictive and compulsive pattern,” he said. Sex addicts reflected a cross-section of the popu-

lation, according to a study of people attending meetings of a group called Sexual Addicts Anonymous. “They were found to be more highly educated and a little more affluent than the average population,” Mr Coleman said. Studies had not determined whether men or women are more inclined toward sex addiction. Treatment was often similar to the 12 steps used by Alcoholics Anonymous, except sex was not necessarily eliminated, he said. Steps leading to recovery include awareness, discovery and victory over the negative aspects of lust

“There is obviously a physical pleasure, but for many of them when they are involved in their act, it is a release of feelings of depression,” Mr Coleman said. “In many ways they describe it as a fix to some very negative feelings.”