Sexual Obsessions Have you ever had sexual urges or sexual thoughts that have lasted for as long as six months? If you answered yes, you may be sexually obsessed, or in more common terms, hypersexual. Hypersexuality is a condition in which a person excessively thinks or behaves in a sexual way; a person that is hypersexual may not actually receive much sexual pleasure, but will only imagine themselves in sexual action. In the psychological community, hypersexuality is deemed as controversial. Many psychologists and health specialists view hypersexuality as a disorder, while others claim that it is not a real disorder. Protagonists often note that hypersexuality is in fact a legitimate disorder, because people with hypersexuality usually experience emotional pain, stress, loneliness, and anxiety. The arguers say that hypersexuality is not actually a disorder, but is just the result of a very high libido, or sex drive. To declare a person as hypersexual, the person must display four out of the five typical hypersexual characteristics for more than six months. The first characteristic of a hypersexual individual is that the person often experiences frequent sexual fantasies. The individual may complain that they cannot focus on much except the fantasy, and usually obtrudes with his work or family. The second attribute of a hypersexual individual is that the person turns to thoughts of sexual action whenever bored, depressed, or stressed. This person’s sexual thoughts start to become a refuge for anything negative or dull is the individual’s life. The third criterion for a hypersexual individual is that the person attempts to keep his sexual thoughts and actions under control, but cannot. This trait is very similar to the first b... ... middle of paper ... ...hooses, there should be a decrease in sexual thoughts and urges. There is no uniform technique or medicine that all doctors use to suppress hypersexuality, but doctors have their own recommendations. Some give out selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, a pill that reduces the sex drive in people, while others recommend the hypersexual individual to seek therapy. All in all, hypersexuality should not be taken lightly. Even though hypersexuality may or may not be considered as a disorder, it is very a serious condition. Many relationships, professions, and lives are ruined because of this condition. Even though men are the ones who are usually affected by hypersexuality, there are women who are affected as well. If affected, there are a few medical procedures that a hypersexual individual can go through to try to reduce his or her sexual thoughts and urges.
In conclusion, keeping Gender Dysphoria as a diagnosis aids the most vulnerable population in seeking treatment and care, options, protection, and guidance. As society and medicine moves forward, we may be able to steer away from mental health bias and general discrimination towards non-conformity, but for now it is important to protect the patients who are helped by the diagnosis. Gender Dysphoria currently allows patients to be treated under their insurance, have access to care, and fight for their
According to the textbook, the term Gender Dysphoria means “biological sex and gender identity do not match, thus leading to distress and impairment” (Chapter 8, pg.279). The textbook also discusses how “children with Gender Dysphoria is apparent in repeated statements that the child wants to be the opposite sex or is the opposite sex; cross-dressing in clothing stereotypical of the other sex and how the child has persistent fantasies of being the opposite sex such as; pretend play or activities associated with the opposite sex” (Chapter 8, pg. 279). However; the textbook also mentions how “people with gender dysphoria have persisted discomfort with their own sex” (Chapter 8, pg. 279).
Some researchers believe sex addiction is not a disorder, but something that is excessively used. The internet has made everything so easy to access. Sex addiction is not even included in the category DSM-5. Based on the DSM-5 list of various disorders, the clinicians then decide whether an individual shows the characteristics of someone who has a psychological disorder. Maybe in the future, sexual addiction would have a chance to make it into a sub category of the DSM-5 instead of labeled in a single category alone. Sex addiction seems to become a problem when it is harming the family unit or the image of someone famous when it becomes headline news. We really do not know how many people suffer from this disorder. There has not been sufficient research about this, a situation which makes this topic very delicate. To some, the word addiction alone is without meaning. Most individuals that do suffer from this disorder do suffer from a chemical imbalance as well. A twelve-step program, self-help support groups, and individual counseling can be recommended for treatment. In recovery they will have to learn how to come to terms with their addiction and how to think differently if placed in certain scenarios. For example, they must live a life that does not put them in situations that may cause one to relapse. It is important to surround themselves around individuals that have
The term sexual orientation is known as the preference of one’s sexual partners, whether the same sex, opposite sex, or both sexes. Sexual orientation occurs when a child reaches the adolescent stages in life (Broderick & Blewitt, 2015). Adolescents activate their sexual orientation within four steps that create their identity. Adolescents are unaware of their identity at the beginning stages of sexual orientation. They work their way into the exploration stage by learning their preference of sexual partners. Once they are aware of their sexual identity, they will start the process of acceptance. Once acceptance is achieved, they will begin to integrate their sexual orientation into their lives (Gallor & Fassinger, 2010).
The medicalization of sex addiction demonstrates the lengths at which medical authority will go to inject another fabricated disease into the blood of society. While alleged sex addictions have existed for many years, they have only recently been accepted as valid excuses for sexual deviancy. Attitudes toward sex addiction in the past offer a stark contrast to how it is viewed today, as the constantly medicalizing society insists on putting everything under the technical microscope. Sex addiction is commonly associated with a person’s inability to control his sexual behavior, implying an abnormally high sex drive and obsession with sex which have negative effects on his personal life (MedicineNet 2007, 1). Rather than breaking down the science behind the disorder, a customary practice in today’s medicalized society, older attitudes towards sex addiction placed it under the same light as alcoholism, where a lack of control and unwillin... ...
The individual has acted on these sexual urges with a nonconsenting person, or the sexual urges or fantasies cause clinically significant distress of impairment in
This site gives a brief overview of some of the biological aspects of sexual disorders.
A paraphilic disorder, also known as having atypical sexual desires, is transvestic disorder. The essential feature of transvestic fetishism is recurrent intense sexual urges and sexually arousing fantasies involving dressing in clothing associated with the opposite sex. Another term for transvestic fetishism is cross-dressing.
The second-wave of feminism peaked in the 1960s and '70s and it touched on every area of the female experience—including family, sexuality, and work. The second-wave is thus defined by its search for more accurate and inclusive representations of women and of the female experience that involves an exploration of the diversity of the female identity. Adrienne Rich, a radical American feminist, is often credited with bringing the oppression of women to the forefront of literary discourse. In her essay titled “Compulsive Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence,” Adrienne Rich coins the lesbian continuum which she defines as “a range --through each woman’s life and throughout history -- of woman identified experience” (Rich 296). This experience
Anxiety played an important role in the psychoanalytic theory, and, as a result, psychoanalytic interpretation is important to understand anxiety disorders. In the psychoanalytic interpretation, anxiety is defined an intense sensation of endangerment and an unconscious mechanism produced by unconscious conflicts. According to Wolman and Stricker (1994), it can be understood as a symptom that is the cause and effect of itself and a product of past experience, psychological mechanisms, and psychic contents like persecutory anxiety or separation anxiety. For Freud, nervous anxiety was produced by sexual frustration and repressed sexual drives, or libido. In his theory, sexual frustration creates a biochemical imbalance that results in anxiety. However, this idea does not have support on the empirical basis because there is not a biochemical process that correlates with Freud’s theory. In addition, on the psychological basis, sexually abstinent people do not always experience extreme anxiety (Wolman...
There is no scientific or medical data that can shed any light, whatsoever, which explains homosexual or even heterosexual sexual drive. For those to feel it is necessary to find a cure to a “problem” such as homosexuality is doing nothing more than acting with prejudice which continues to lead to more oppression. Even though the word treatment holds the connotation of providing a source of help to one who is suffering, it is, again, yet another label on a human being suggesting flaws. It is the continued need to label those who do not fit societal norms that lead to and unending cycle of oppression.
Human sex research has made great advancements in recent years, however, there remains misconceptions that have yet to be completely exposed. A topic that falls under this category, but is still surrounded by stigma, is masturbation. In the past, mainly beginning in the 18th century, medical professionals began to claim that masturbation could have serious mental and physical health consequences. At that time, masturbation was considered to be immoral and was believed that it could lead to insanity, and even death. Yet, there was no scientific evidence to support these claims. With most cases, the evidence was only based on testimonies of supposed individuals suffering due to compulsive masturbation; even today there remains no evidence that masturbation is wrong or dangerous (Kaestle, 2011). Although many individuals retain negative attitudes toward masturbation, evidence suggests that these beliefs and attitudes are only common myth. The stigma that is associated with masturbation is often opposed with the commonality as well as the numerous benefits that can be attributed to it. Since masturbation is a natural behavior and can provide a safe sexual outlet, serve as a therapeutic treatment for sexual disorders and a method for self-discovery; it should be considered beneficial sexual act.
... of both counseling and medication. The patient attends sex therapy and implements self-help measures, and takes medications for any physiological problems they might have. However, if they are independently taken, they can benefit each other without any further treatment. There are many different ways to help patients, but these two are proven the best there are for treating sexual disorders.
Desire disorder is lack of sexual desire or interest in sex. There are plenty causes of desire disorder, some being pregnancy, age, depression and negative sexual experience. 20 percent of people have desire disorder, but it is more common in women. Testosterone is the hormone that causes sexual desire for both women and men, it is necessary for a healthy sex drive. Boosting your testosterone level can be an effective treatment.
The theory does a good job at delineating the stages of psychosexual development; our childhood has a great influence on our personalities. Referring to Freud’s ‘psychosexual stages’, it is very clear that parents’ role in an infant’s life is the foremost step to structure the personality. Not to forget, the oral and anal stages are focal fundamental to character traits in a person’s behavior. The inner ‘instincts’ of sexuality and aggression meeting with the socially acceptable norms creates a conflict zone, wherein it is decided what we are to do and what we would become.