Definition

Behavioral sexual disorders cover a wide range of disorders, one of which is compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD). CSBD is also called hypersexuality, hypersexuality disorder, or sexual addiction. If you experience this condition, you will tend to feel excessively preoccupied with sexual fantasies, urges, or behaviors that are difficult to control. This condition will cause you to feel depressed and can harm your health, work and relationships with other people.

CSBD is not only in the form of sexual fantasies but can be accompanied by sexual experiences that are felt to be pleasurable, such as masturbation, cybersex, having many sexual partners, watching pornography, and even hiring commercial sex workers (PSK). When these sexual habits emerge and become the main focus of your life, and they harm you or others, this condition can constitute CSBD.

This condition is characterized by a pattern of continuous failure to control intense sexual urges resulting in repeated sexual behavior over a fairly long period, namely 6 months or more. Furthermore, this can cause real suffering or disruption in various areas of life.

CSBD that is not treated properly can cause damage to your self-esteem, work, health, and relationships with others. Appropriate management can help you to overcome this.

Causes

Although the cause of CSBD is still not known for certain, it is suspected that several things cause this condition, namely:

• Imbalance of brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) such as serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. These chemicals function to regulate your mood. High concentration amounts may be associated with the occurrence of CSBD.
• Changes in pathways or circuits in the brain. CSBD can cause addiction. Over time, this can cause changes in the circuits or pathways in the brain in the reinforcement center. As time goes by, like other types of addiction, the need for sexual content and sexual stimulation becomes more intense to make you feel satisfied and happy.
• Conditions that impact the brain. Several types of diseases or health problems, such as epilepsy and dementia, can cause damage to parts of the brain and result in CSBD. In addition, treatment of Parkinson's disease is carried out by administering drugs that work as dopamine agonists. This can cause hypersexuality.

Risk Factor

Hypersexuality can occur in women and men. However, this condition tends to be more common in men. If this condition occurs and affects anyone, regardless of sexual orientation. Several factors can increase hypersexual behavior, namely:

• Ease of accessing sexual content,
• People who experience hypersexuality tend to keep their hypersexual activities a secret. This can worsen the condition over time.
• There are other mental health disorders, such as mood disorders (depression or anxiety),
• Drug or alcohol abuse,
• Conflict in the family or the presence of family members with problems in the form of addiction or addiction,
• A history of physical or sexual violence

Symptoms

Several symptoms appear when you experience CSBD, namely;

• You have repetitive and intense sexual fantasies, urges, and behaviors. This condition can cause you to spend a lot of time, and this feels out of your control. This happens for a long time, at least 6 months or more.
• You feel the urge to engage in certain sexual behavior. After doing it, you feel the release of tension afterwards. However, you also feel guilty or regretful afterwards.
• You have tried to reduce or control sexual fantasies and behavior, but you have failed.
• You often lie to cover up hypersexual behavior
• You engage in sexual behavior as an escape from other problems, such as loneliness, depression, anxiety, or stress.
• You may continue to engage in high-risk sexual behavior, such as potentially experiencing or transmitting sexually transmitted diseases, problems at work and legal issues,
• You have problems building and maintaining healthy, stable relationships.

Diagnosis

Your doctor will carry out a psychological evaluation on you by asking several questions, in the form of:

• Your physical and mental health, as well as your overall emotional well-being.
• Sexual thoughts, behavior, and sexual urges that are difficult to control,
• Use of illegal drugs or alcohol,
• There are problems in the family, relationships with people closest to you, or in the social environment that occur to you that are caused by the sexual behavior disorders that you experience.

Your doctor may also ask your family or those closest to you several questions about your condition. Based on the information that has been collected, your doctor will make a diagnosis if it meets the criteria.

Management

Until now, the management of hypersexuality has by evidence-based or based on scientific evidence. However, several methods can be used to manage hypersexuality, namely by using (psycho) therapy and medication.

The most frequently used psychotherapy is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and psychodynamic psychotherapy. CBT is carried out with a focus on identifying things that trigger sexual behavior disorders reshaping distorted cognition about sexual behavior and suppressing relapse prevention. Psychodynamic psychotherapy is carried out to explore the core conflict that drives the emergence of this disorder.

Providing medication to CSBD patients is done by administering several types of medication that aim to overcome problems with brain chemicals that cause hypersexuality. However, the type of medication given depends on the situation and mental health condition you are experiencing. Some medications that your doctor may prescribe can be antidepressants, naltrexone, mood stabilizers, or anti-androgens.

Apart from providing psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy, management through support groups can help people with hypersexuality. Support groups are created to help you learn about the disorder you are experiencing, find support for your condition, identify other treatment options or coping behaviors that you can do, and help prevent a recurrence.

Complications

Hypersexuality can cause various negative consequences that are felt by you as the sufferer and those around you. Some of them are:

• Struggling with feelings of guilt, shame, and low self-esteem,
• It can cause other mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety disorders, and even suicide.
• Loss of focus or involvement in sexual activity, or searching for pornographic content on the internet while at work, putting your job at risk.
• High possibility of contact with sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B and C, gonorrhea, syphilis, or other sexually transmitted diseases,
• Engaging in the use of illegal substances, such as drugs or alcohol.
• Arrested for committing a sexual offence.

Prevention

The exact cause of hypersexuality is still not known for certain so it is not known for certain how to prevent hypersexuality. However, several things can be done to help keep sexual behavior in hypersexual sufferers under control, namely:

• Seek professional help immediately if you feel you have problems with sexual behavior disorders. Identification and treatment since the first symptoms appear can help prevent the symptoms that appear in hypersexual from getting worse and prevent complications.
• Seek immediate treatment as early as possible for mental health disorders that may appear along with the hypersexuality you feel. This is because hypersexuality can get worse if it is accompanied by depression and anxiety.
• Identify and seek help to overcome alcohol and substance abuse.
• Avoid risky situations, such as having risky sexual relations.

When to see a doctor?

Hypersexuality tends to increase over time. See your doctor immediately if you feel like you are losing control of your sexual behavior, especially if the behavior is causing problems for someone else.

When deciding to seek help from a doctor or psychologist, ask yourself the following questions;

• Can I control the sexual urges I feel?
• Do I feel pressured about my sexual behavior?
• Does my sexual behavior affect my work or cause negative consequences?
• Am I trying to hide my sexual behavior?