This article evolved out of a rather heated exchange on the AASECT listserv last year, and I expect that it may generate some controversy here as well. With that in mind, I’d like to preface it by saying that if a method works for you, stay with it, a way of thinking that reflects the pragmatic nature of Tantra. At the same time, it’s important to be discerning, regardless of popular trends.

Even thought it's not listed in the DSM, "sex addiction" is a hot topic and diagnosis these days. ESPN analyst Steve Phillips (never heard of him before starting to research this article) just entered rehab for the condition; David Duchovny was treated for it last year, and Susan Cheever recently wrote a book on the subject. An entire industry has grown up around the term, encompassing everything from inpatient treatment programs to a new television show, Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew, featuring Dr. Drew Pinsky, one of the nation's most prominent sex addiction specialists, which premiered on VH-1 on November 1. 

Advocates claim that this "disorder" afflicts somewhere between three and five or six percent of the population, and some describe this estimate as "conservative." Most treatment programs follow the 12-step model, at least in part. The symptoms of "sex addiction" are said to include excessive masturbation, watching pornography, engaging in anonymous sexual activity, to name a few. According to Sex Addicts Anonymous, if you answer yes to even one of their questions about sexual behavior, you should seek treatment.  These include:  "Do you keep secrets about your sexual life from those important to you?" "Does your use of printed or internet pornography occupy large amounts of time and/or jeopardize your significant relationships or employment?" and "Have your desires driven you to have sex in places or with people you would not normally choose?" The questions are so broadly worded and open to interpretation that almost any moderately sexually active person could answer at least one in the affirmative.

http://saa-recovery.org/IsSAAForYou/SelfAssessment/

Believers in sex addiction frequently describe it as having roots in problems with intimacy, which is what makes this a suitable topic for the relationships page:

"The sexually addicted person doesn't use sex just to escape reality. He also uses sex as a shallow, fantasy based substitute for genuine intimacy. It is what I call, "the flight from intimacy. . .The flight from intimacy is more difficult to deal with – and must be addressed first – because it causes the emotional attachment to sex addiction."

http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Sex_Addiction_and_the_Intimacy_Factor.html

There's no denying that some people engage in compulsive and indeed self-destructive sexual behaviors, but to suggest that a flight from intimacy is the underlying cause seems simplistic in the extreme. Sex is far too complex and mysterious to be reduced to such platitudes, and so is intimacy.

There's no doubt that many people "in recovery" from "sexual addiction" feel that they've benefitted from their treatment, and it's certainly true that treatment is a good idea when compulsive sexual behavior causes becomes harmful to self or others, or even when it merely causes unhappiness. At the same time, there's room for questioning this new diagnostic category.  Compulsive behavior may result in chemical changes in the brain, but there are many forms of behavior that produce changes in the brain, and none of them are the same as introducing foreign substances into the body. It is telling that the DSM doesn't label behaviors "gambling addiction," "shopping addiction" or "hand-washing addiction." The term "sexual addiction" seems more a reflection of our culture's puritanism and uncomfortableness with sexuality than a real syndrome. Just because compulsive behaviors can have very serious consequences doesn't mean people should conflate them with substance addictions.

Beyond that, the effort to have "sex addiction" included in the forthcoming edition of the DSM is troubling, especially when one examines the movement's origins and connections. The man who did the first study of "sex addiction" and effectively invented the diagnosis is named Patrick Carnes. According to his own biography, Carnes holds a doctorate in "counselor education and organizational development." Thus, his academic qualifications are in a field that is at best peripherally related to diagnosing mental illnesses, let alone identifying new ones.

A deeper look at Carnes reveals some alarming connections, ties to the conservative Christian movement that are kept partially hidden. Carnes does not openly advance the Christian right's agenda, but he is often cited by religious right leaders, and doesn't seem to have repudiated the use of his work to support their arguments, as he should have done, if he felt they were misusing or misrepresenting his findings.  More significantly, he aligned himself with and testified on behalf of Paula Jones in her highly publicized and politicized civil case, one that was indeed promoted by a vast right wing conspiracy, as Joe Conason, Gene Lyons and others have documented. It's pretty safe to assume that any fees were paid by The Rutherford Institute (which funded Jones's case), a conservative legal group with close ties to the religious right. Carnes's role in the Jones case is one very strong connection, but it's not the only one.
On its website, Carnes's Gentle Path Press links to AWARE: Abstinence Wait-training And Relationship Education - For Teens, a (Washington) state funded abstinence- only program on its very short list of resources.
Milton Magness is Board President of The Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health, an organization founded by Carnes in 1987.  Magness is a Baptist minister. His website links to a number of Christian anti-porn groups and to Promise Keepers. Magness, also features "Celebrate Recovery" on his website. This group is affiliated with Rick Warren's church, and offers a very Christian version of the 12-steps. While Warren is considerably more moderate than James Dobson and some others and does not advocate abstinence only – he views condoms as a last resort in HIV prevention, preferring abstinence and "fidelity," but does not exclude them – he's still a social conservative.

http://www.hopeandfreedom.com/weblinks/organizations.html
 
According to her website, Marnie C. Ferree, Program Director and Ministry leader of Bethesda Workshops, is on the editorial board of the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health's journal, Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity. Among the sites her organization links to are Donald Wildmon's American Family Association, Exodus International ("for unwanted same sex attractions") and Focus on the Family.

http://bethesdaworkshops.org/index.cfm?pg=stf

Three of Carnes's co-authors have worked for Faithful and True Ministries – Mark Laaser, the minister who heads it, his wife Deb Laaser, and Elizabeth Griffen. Laaser's website used to include links to Promise Keepers, Pure Intimacy (a Focus on the Family anti-porn website), and the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families ("a non-profit ministry dedicated to articulating, advancing and defending biblical truth in the area of sexual morality, marriage and family."). Carnes wrote the foreword to Laaser's book, Faithful and True: Sexual Integrity in a Fallen World. The foreword is titled "The Secret Sin," and Carnes identifies himself as part of the Christian community, writing: "As many of us who work in health care have found, God does not work in compartments. The spirit works in medicine and science if we are open to the Lord."  Laaser is the former director of the American Association of Christian Counselors' Institute for Healthy Sexuality (which touts biblical inerrancy on its website.) It's worth checking out the description of their video course, which features Laaser among others, and also the AACC’s view on “treating” homosexuality.
 
http://web.archive.org/web/20080319001642/http://www.faithfulandtrueministries.com/links.php
 
http://www.aacc.net/courses/biblical-counseling/healthy-sexuality/
http://www.aacc.net/2008/02/13/letter-to-the-american-counseling-association/


People who have sexual problems that require treatment should be able to get it, free from ideology and hidden agendas. For the rest of us, embracing our sexuality, with joy and awareness, is perhaps the most powerful tool for healing we have at our disposal.