Kenny Tran

PSYCH 100
Professor Themanson

Taking Sides: Can Sex Be Addictive?

Addiction- a broad word that is hotly debated in and out of the scientific community. One specific
question is at hand today can sex be addictive? No, sex cannot be addictive. I stand in strong negation
of this question for a multitude of reasons. The first area I will discuss is the application of the word
addiction and its application in the scientific field. Then, I will begin discussing the effect normative
social influence has on creating the negative stigma around sex that is not normal.
Both Understanding Sexual Addiction by Patrick Carnes and Sex Addiction: Recovering from
a Shady Concept by Lawrence A. Siegel and Richard M. Siegel agree that scientific journals, specifically
the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. In fact, the term sexual addiction does not even appear in the
manual (Slife 231). On top of that, addiction does not appear in the International Classification of
Diseases (ICD-10) (Slife 235). Both of these sources, the DSM and ICD-10 use only the words abuse or
dependence, but even so, they are only used in reference to substance abuse or substance dependence.
This is done for very good reason. The word addiction has gained popularity in our culture today, that
using it arbitrarily can be regressive in trying to define what and addiction is, and what constitutes an
addiction.
Carnes states that an addiction may be recognized if it falls into any of the three categories loss
of control, continuation despite adverse consequences, or obsession or preoccupation. First, we should
look towards the loss of control. Carnes describes this as a person having persistent unsuccessful efforts
to control, cut back, or stop. This could then relate to a wide variety of day to day activities such as
eating chocolate or even playing video games. Some might say that you may lose control eating chocolate
and form a sugar addiction or even develop a video game addiction. With substance abuse we can see
biological processes at work that cause a person to become addicted to certain drugs. Sugar, on the other
hand, cannot be explained using the logic behind substance abuse and neither can a video game
addiction. These are two aspects of life in which people have dubbed with the term addiction even
though you cant truly get addicted to them. This element is exceedingly broad and encompasses way too
many activities and substances. With this definition, I could be addicted to procrastinating on my
homework, or addicted to flirting with people, or even addicted to listening to catchy pop tunes. I could
even be addicted to meatball subs, because even though I keep trying to eat only salads, I always come

Kenny Tran
PSYCH 100
Professor Themanson

Taking Sides: Can Sex Be Addictive?

back for more meatball subs. We will see this trend of ambiguity continue with the other elements of
addiction. Next is continuation despite adverse consequences. This basically refers to illegal acts, or
negative consequences, or continuous bad decisions in the pursuit of sexual satisfaction. It is true that
sometimes the pursuit of sexual goals can lead to troublesome situations, and in some cases, strings of bad
decisions. This still does not mean that it must be an addiction. I could consistently not do my homework
and instead opt to play some piano. This doesnt make me a piano addict, it just makes me a person who
is, if you value getting good grades, a very poor decision maker. What if I just really liked hanging out
with my friends, and I dont end up getting my homework done, consistently. Again, this does not make
me an addict, just a very poor decision-maker. Last, obsession or preoccupation. This argument is
effectively countered by the Siegels, Research has shown that men, on average, think about sex every
eight seconds; does that mean that men are inherently sex addicts? Once again, the wording is so
ambiguous that it is difficult to distinguish what preoccupied even means in this context, thus leading the
the conclusion that all men could be sex addicts, which we know is not true. In terms of defining what an
addiction actually is, Carnes falls short in this regard. The elements that constitute an addiction are too
broad and would include too many non-addictive aspects of life. Therefore, sex being literally addictive is
not true. If anything, there could possibly be abuse of sex or sex dependence, but even those are not listed
in the DSM or ICD-10.
One of the main criticisms of Carnes research is that it is inherently biased and based off of
social constrictions. This is very apparent in the section Behaviors in which Carnes lists activities such
as anonymous sex, trading sex, paying for sex, and exploitive sex as signs of addiction. These are not so
much signs of sexual addiction as they are rather either frowned upon by society or not considered normal
by society. This leads me to ask the general question how much sex is normal? To me, it seems that
some individuals can have a healthy and very busy sex life while someone else could have a very slow
sex life. I do not think that means that one is healthier than the other. Carnes categories on what
constitutes a sexual addiction is equal to saying that you are addicted to music if you listen to Metal or
Screamo. Just because they are not the popular or normal forms of music, does not mean they should be
singled out as culprits of music. Carnes is forcing his own personal opinion on sex and lifestyle into his

Kenny Tran
PSYCH 100
Professor Themanson

Taking Sides: Can Sex Be Addictive?

research and creating a standard for others based on his own beliefs. A factor that skews his research and
facts.
Therefore, I conclude that sex cannot be addictive. Sex can cause trouble. Sex can lead to bad
decisions. Sex can lead to health issues but so can staying up late watching movies. You can want sex and
crave it, but you can also crave pizza. To be addictive, that would constitute that something would be able
to be an addiction. Since sex cannot, in my opinion, be an addiction, then it cannot be addictive.