According to a recent study, sex addiction isn't real. This UCLA study says that none of the 16 million Americans who claim they're addicted to sex need to go to rehab. Apprently, all they need is cold showers. Several cold showers, perhaps.
Scientist Nicole Prause allowed 39 men and 13 women to look at dirty pictures, then observed their brain activity. “If you think sexual problems are an addiction, we would have expected to see an enhanced response maybe to those sexual images. If you think it’s a problem with impulsivity, we would have expected to see decreased responses to those sexual images. The fact that we didn’t see any of those relationships suggests that there’s not great support for looking at these sexual behaviors as an addiction,” Prause explained.
However, Prause isn't unsympathetic. She doesn't want people with sexual issues to go untreated, she just thinks other forms of treatment aside from rehab should be explored: “We want to urge caution and thoughtfulness in thinking about how to treat these types of sexual problems, and I don’t think we have a good grasp yet of what exactly is going on."
Still, the American Psychiatric Association released an updated guide—without sex addiction included. Prause again explained that there was "not sufficient evidence at this time to include sex addiction" right now and in later discussions about the matter.
[via CBS News]
