So why isn't Sex addiction in the DSM? Maybe it isn't an addiction.

DSM?

 

Thank you

 

It has been listed in WHO's International Classification of Diseases since 2018:

"On 18th June 2018, the World Health Organization’s authors of the International Classification of Diseases, 11th Revision, put out a press release announcing that the implementation version of the upcoming ICD-11 included Compulsive Sexual Behaviour Disorder (CSBD) for the first time...
..Compulsive sexual behaviour disorder [6C72], at last offers healthcare professionals a formal, self-evident diagnosis for inability to control sexual behaviour despite negative consequences. "
->https://www.rewardfoundation.org/co...health-disorder-by-world-health-organization/
->https://icd.who.int/browse11/l-m/en#/http://id.who.int/icd/entity/1630268048

Classification of compulsive sexual behaviour disorder was listed in, based on the latest neurological findings regarding measured gray matter volume reduction in prefrontal cortex. This shit has real physiological consequences on brain, nearly identical to drugs and alcohol. The only other possible explanation is that people who indulge in compulsive addictive behaviours have lower gray matter volume in PFC to begin with and less self control because of it. It's chicken and egg question until some study clarifies this.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19926237
https://www.researchgate.net/public...net_addiction_A_voxel-based_morphometry_study

 

If you don't think you have a problem with PMO, why are you here then? I know I've had serious problem with this addictive compulsive behaviour for nearly 2 decades and I admit it. I don't care if it's categorized as a disease/disorder or not, I know it has been ruining my life and I had to stopped it. To be frank, from neuroscientific point of view addictions are nothing more than deep learned behaviour. Habits gone on autopilot if you will, but it really doesn't matter for the one who has this problem. I've been addicted to Roxanol (morphine sulfate liquid) for 2 years after having a back surgery and let me tell you that withdrawal symptoms after stopping with daily binge PMOing were very similar to when I stopped taking morphine drops. OK, first 9 days off morphine were pure hell, but after that nearly identical to PMO withdrawal symptoms.

 

Most of the experts in psychology agree that porn use can be a problem. They just don't yet agree if an addiction model is the correct way of understanding the problem. We don't honestly know yet what this problem is, or how to treat it. We only have a few brain studies, some supporting the addiction model and others contradicting it, and we have anecdotal evidence.

Keep in mind though, compulsive use of Internet porn didn't begin that long ago. The Internet is only around 25 years old, and porn-streaming tube sites have only been around for the last 15 years.

I commend you for having the guts to ask this question in this forum. People won't take kindly to it, but I also have my doubts. Regardless, I know I have problems in my life that are related to porn, and I'm doing what I can to fix these problems.

 

I'm almost 100% certain PMO addiction will be in the DSM sooner or later, it's not a matter of if but a matter of when. Science is currently thoroughly looking into it and you have all these several institutes like the Max Planck institute in Germany for instance that are on the cusp of proving that it can be problematic.

Can't share this one enough. You have real, knowledgeable doctors recognizing it's a problem, saying things such as "like cocaine" when refering to porn consumption...
Can't forget high speed internet pornography is a recent thing, studies need to be carried out and it can take science a bit of time to catch up, but it will officially be recognized as a problem sooner or later.

 

I find the term "addiction" useful because it forces me to stay vigilant, even when things are going well.

I think it is hard to have a debate about whether porn addiction should be in the DSM (though personally I think it should) because the two sides in the debate are clearly motivated differently. @TheGambler, you see one side as therapists who are looking to "make money off people like us". I do not see it that way, I see one side as those who see the harm porn is doing in people's lives (i.e. in our lives) against those who want to keep making money out of porn (i.e. pornographers and their various in-pocket psychologists). Suppose we 'follow the money'. Who do you think stands to gain more, the therapists trying to rescue people from their perceived addiction or the pornographers trying to draw porn users further and further into porn? It seems clear to me who the bad guys are.

This video helped me to understand why porn addiction is not in the DSM and why it should be.

 

OK, I am confused then. Can you summarise your point, perhaps we agree?

 

@TheGambler

I actually couldn’t agree with you more on the intergenerational dysfunction point you raise.

I would restate your thread this way:

“How does someone who is religious (or part of a 12 step group) fall “victim “ to the same thing over and over again?

Wouldn’t we suggest something is wrong with the treatment ?

 

Ah, I see what you mean. You mean "don't use addiction as an excuse for your bad decisions". I agree with that. @010010010100000101001101 sparked a long discussion on my journal recently about whether classing ourselves as addicts even when we are well into recovery was wise. It works for me, partly because of the reason I gave already (that it stops me being complacent) but also because it comes with a whole set of useful terminology (like 'recovery', 'relapse', etc.)

But yes, if it becomes an excuse for relapsing then that's bad.

 

Awesome video man. Damn. I am saving this one for sure. Thank you.

Whether we understand the brain sufficiently (or not), believe the Bible (or not), live in obedience to God (or not like in my case), the phrase “by beholding we become changed”, seems to literally be fulfilled in this video.

Even for a pmo survivor like me, this has great impact. Thank you.

 

You just exposed yourself. You asked why sex addiciton isn't in the DSM, and then, when someone shows you that it is in another highly respected list of mental disorders, you say that they put it in there to make more money. I don't respect the DSM, but that doesn't mean that there isn't such a thing as sex addiction, or porn addiction, because there is, as many people can attest to.