Am I a Sex
Addict? How
Do I Tell?
Do you think about sex 748 times a day, construct elaborate fantasies about
every other woman at your gym, and know way too much about subniche porn?
Take this test before you are hauled off to rehab.
BY BILLY GOLDBERG, M.D., WITH MARK LEYNER
PHOTOGRAPH BY RONALD CADIZ
To: questions@drbillyandleyner.com
Dear Dr. Billy and Leyner,
I’m writing because I need to know if I
have a problem. I recently read about David
Duchovny’s going into rehab for sex addiction,
and I began to think that I may have stepped
over the edge myself. I’m spending every
waking hour looking at Internet porn. I
spent the money I had saved for my wife’s
anniversary gift at an adult video store,
and I have fantasies about my kid’s teacher
every night. I had to skip the parent-teacher
conference because I was afraid I’d get
aroused. Please tell me: What are the limits
of regular male horniness? I need your help!
How do I know if I’m a sex addict?
seek to uncover a neurobiological cause of
this and other addictions, at present, we are
left without a biological etiology for excessive
masturbation, promiscuous sexual encounters,
or obsessive use of prostitutes for sex. In the
absence of any clear diagnostic modality, you
can try taking this simple test to assess your
own sexual compulsivity quotient:
of contraction pressure waveforms, representing
pelvic muscular force, were initially low,
increased through the first half of the regular
series, and then decreased.
Do you find the following statement
sexually arousing?
F = q [E +(V x B)]
Do you find the following statement
sexually arousing?
Murmuring lasciviously, she unbuttoned her
white shirt to show me her swollen brown
nipples, and then lifted her pinafore and spread
Do you suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome
as a result of compulsive masturbation?
Before masturbating, do you try to
“seduce” your hand with disarmingly
Sincerely,
Harry Palmer, Grosse Pointe, Michigan
I SPENT THE MONEY FOR MY WIFE’S ANNIVERSARY
GIFT AT AN ADULT VIDEO STORE, AND I HAVE
FANTASIES ABOUT MY KID’S TEACHER EVERY NIGHT.
Dear Grappling in Grosse Pointe,
Unfortunately, there is no standardized
or universal way to determine when normal
sexual urges cross over into compulsive or
“addictive” behavior. The Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM )
is published by the American Psychiatric
Association and is the standard volume used
to provide diagnostic criteria for mental
disorders. Sexual addiction is not recognized
in the current edition. Although scientists
her legs, exposing a triangle of raven pubic hair
and her glistening pink…
Do you find the following statement
sexually arousing?
Eleven nulliparous women manually self-stimulated to orgasm. Anal and vaginal
contraction waveforms were synchronized with
each other, and the same number of orgasmic
contractions occurred in each lumen. Amplitudes
candid self-appraisals and admissions,
such as “You probably won’t believe this,
but I’m really very insecure,” or “This
might surprise you, but I was pretty fat
when I was a kid”?
Before masturbating, do you try to, sort of,
“break the ice” with your hand by engaging
it in light banter, such as “Have you ever
been to La Jolla?” Or “I knew you went to
