Sex addicts feel threatened by intimacy and are more insecure about romantic relationships than the rest of the population, a New Zealand study has found.
The survey of more than 600 people found those who indulged in compulsive sexual behaviour felt anxious and insecure about relationships and tried to avoid becoming too emotionally attached to others.
Faislander said sex addiction, which made headlines this year with revelations about Tiger Woods' love life, was a complex condition that had not been researched as thoroughly as areas such as or depression.
She said the term "sex addict" first emerged in the early 1980s and there were 29 other terms in scientific literature that described the condition, including sexual compulsivity, excessive sexual desire disorder and hypersexuality.
The preferred contemporary term is out-of-control sexual behaviours (OOSCH). "It's widely misunderstood and stigmatised," Faislander said. "There's no known effective treatment. We don't know what causes it or how we treat it."
Faislander's study used an anonymous online survey to quiz 621 people about their sex lives. In all, 407 identified themselves as sex addicts while 214 were not.
The survey of more than 600 people found those who indulged in compulsive sexual behaviour felt anxious and insecure about relationships and tried to avoid becoming too emotionally attached to others.
Massey University said the study, conducted by psychology honours student Karen Faislander under the supervision of a practising clinical psychologist and an academic specialist, was the first of its type in New Zealand.
Faislander said sex addiction, which made headlines this year with revelations about Tiger Woods' love life, was a complex condition that had not been researched as thoroughly as areas such as or depression.
She said the term "sex addict" first emerged in the early 1980s and there were 29 other terms in scientific literature that described the condition, including sexual compulsivity, excessive sexual desire disorder and hypersexuality.
The preferred contemporary term is out-of-control sexual behaviours (OOSCH). "It's widely misunderstood and stigmatised," Faislander said. "There's no known effective treatment. We don't know what causes it or how we treat it."
Faislander's study used an anonymous online survey to quiz 621 people about their sex lives. In all, 407 identified themselves as sex addicts while 214 were not.
