Patient Characteristics by Type of Hypersexuality Referral: A Quantitative Chart Review of 115 Consecutive Male Cases

Abstract

Hypersexuality remains an increasingly common but poorly understood patient complaint. Despite diversity in clinical presentations of patients referred for hypersexuality, the literature has maintained treatment approaches that are assumed to apply to the entire phenomenon. This approach has proven ineffective, despite its application over several decades. The present study used quantitative methods to examine demographic, mental health, and sexological correlates of common clinical subtypes of hypersexuality referrals. Findings support the existence of subtypes, each with distinct clusters of features. Paraphilic hypersexuals reported greater numbers of sexual partners, more substance abuse, initiation to sexual activity at an earlier age, and novelty as a driving force behind their sexual behavior. Avoidant masturbators reported greater levels of anxiety, delayed ejaculation, and use of sex as an avoidance strategy. Chronic adulterers reported premature ejaculation and later onset of puberty. Designated patients were less likely to report substance abuse, employment, or finance problems. Although quantitative, this article nonetheless presents a descriptive study in which the underlying typology emerged from features most salient in routine sexological assessment. Future studies might apply purely empirical statistical techniques, such as cluster analyses, to ascertain to what extent similar typologies emerge when examined prospectively.

Notes

Healthy BDSM was defined by the authors as cases who identified or endorsed interest in consenting power-play dynamics and/or a variety of sexual activities that fall into the category of BDSM, including but not limited to restraint, harmless use of pain or humiliation such as spanking, whips, or use of props, and kink that did not meet the definition of any of the other interest categories.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research grant no. 89719 awarded to James M. Cantor.