Losing control in sex addiction: “Addict” and “Non-addict” accounts

ABSTRACT

There has been a recent trend for the construct of addiction to be applied to sexual behaviours. A growing number of people recounting excessive sexual thoughts or behaviours have been categorized as suffering from sex “addiction”. Sex addiction is said to involve a pathological relationship to sex, with the symptomology akin to drug dependence. Opposing interpretations have argued that sex addiction is used as a stigmatizing label for those who deviate from a socially constructed sexual standard. A Foucauldian form of discourse analysis was used to analyse semi-structured interviews with nine men who identified as sex-addicts or as highly sexual though not addicted to sex. Our analysis explores how sexual addiction is constructed by some interviewees, and focuses on the discursive theme of losing control, used by interviewees to construct their positioning and moral status. Socio-political and ideological connotations of a loss of control were constructed using psychological and biomedical discourses of illness, vulnerability and stress. These, in turn, produce implications for requisite treatment and societal intervention.

KEYWORDS:

• Addiction
• discourse analysis
• interviews
• medicalization
• mental health and illness
• sexuality

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank interviewees for their invaluable contribution to the research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. In keeping with FDA convention, names represent pseudonyms of interviewees, and numbers represent line numbers in individual interview transcripts.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

James Briggs

James Briggs, PhD, is a clinical psychologist employed by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Brendan Gough

Brendan Gough, PhD, is a professor of social psychology in the School of Social, Psychological and Communication Sciences.

Roshan das Nair

Roshan das Nair, PhD, is a consultant clinical psychologist in HIV & Sexual Health at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and an honorary professor at the University of Nottingham.