For celebrities who blame their sexual escapades on an addiction, there’s a new study that questions their condition.
Can you be addicted to sex?
For the last several years, doctors have diagnosed people with hyperactive sex drive as sex addicts. Many believe it’s an addiction, similar to that of drugs or alcohol. However, a new study, which looks at brain scans, questions whether or not an overactive sex drive is an addiction.
What did the brain scans show?
By looking at pictures of the brain, researchers were able to get an inside look at the activity associated with hypersexual patients. Dr. Nicole Prause, who is an Assistant Research Scientist in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, conducted the study and compared brain images from sex addicts to images from other addicts, like those addicted to drugs. The images, which she believed should look very similar, didn’t look alike.
“If our study is replicated, these findings would represent a major challenge to existing theories of sex “addiction”. The reason these findings present a challenge is that is shows their brains did not respond to the images like other addicts to their drug of addiction,” Prause said.
How could this effect treatment for hypersexual patients?
At this point, researchers say treatments shouldn’t be altered until more information is gathered.
“The study needs to be replicated. Alternative explanations need to be explored. If the wrong model is currently being used to provide treatments, we must find the right model to help people struggling with their sexual behaviors,” Prause said.
The study was published in Psychology Today. For more information, check out a question and answer sessions with Dr. Prause.
What are your thoughts?
Tell us what you think of this study in the comment section below.
