Cybersex addiction in a gay man: a case report

Abstract

Background

Cybersex addiction is a sexual addiction characterized by virtual Internet sexual activity that causes serious negative consequences to one’s physical, mental, social, and/or financial well-being. Previous studies have mostly addressed cybersex addiction in heterosexual males.

Purpose

To describe a case report of a 26-year-old gay man suffering from a cybersex addiction.

Methods

We use Griffiths’ model of the common components of addictions.

Results

We reveal this case report of cybersex addiction possesses all of six components universal for addictions.

Conclusions

In light of the increasing prevalence of various behavioral addictions (especially, Internet addictions), clinical psychiatrists should be aware of the cybersex addiction phenomenon.

KEYWORDS:

• Cybersex
• sexual addiction
• behavioral addiction
• MSM
• case report

Conflict of interest

The author declares that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article.

Funding

The research received no external funding.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Written informed consent was obtained from the clinical case subject after a detailed explanation of the objectives and protocol of the study, which was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles stated in the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Moscow Research and Practical Center on Addictions of the Moscow Department of Healthcare.

Notes

* The regulatory character of the EEG changes testifies to changes in the regulation of activating influences on the cortex from the reticular formation of the brainstem.