NYT | S Andreasson
Although there is an entire treatment industry devoted to “sex and love addiction,” as well as numerous 12-step groups, there is no such diagnosis in psychiatry or psychology. The current version of the D.S.M., the diagnostic manual used by mental health professionals, leaves out sexual compulsions in the chapter on addiction, citing limited scientific evidence. Sexual compulsion would fall under what the manual calls “unspecified sexual dysfunction.” “There is an enormous controversy about the term,” said Anna Randall, a sex therapist and clinical social worker who leads The Alternative Sexualities Health Research Alliance.