Compulsive sexual behaviour is a real problem according to the World Health Organization.
For the first time, the agency classified sex addiction as a mental health condition on the International Statistical Classification of Diseases list. Its inclusion on the ICD-11 comes a few weeks after gaming addiction was added.
The new mental illness is defined as a “persistent pattern of failure to control intense, repetitive, sexual impulses or urges resulting in a repetitive sexual behaviour.”
Symptoms include sex becoming the “central focus” of a person’s life at the expense of health and personal care or other interests, activities, and responsibilities.
A person with this disorder has to be dealing with the issue for six months or more for it to meet the terms of the definition.
Accprding to Dr. Valerie Voon, from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, “It’s a behaviour that tends to be hidden as it’s shameful and often sex addicts don’t come forward,” Voon said to the British newspaper.
“Adding this to the WHO is an excellent step for patients as it allows them to recognize that they are suffering with a problem — it takes it out of the shadows and they are able to seek help for it.”
