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The sex addicted brain


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In the brain found sex addiction | Science and life

In the work of the brain, pornography lovers and drug addicts have found a lot in common.

It is believed that an average of four out of a hundred adults suffer from some form of obsessive sexual desire. That is, their thoughts, feelings and behavior constantly turn to the topic of sex and, most importantly, a person himself cannot resist them, even if such obsession harms a career, personal relationships, etc. In this case, they often talk about sex addiction, however It is still not clear whether such a dependence actually exists.

Photo by Robert Recker / Corbis.

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Any addiction has clear psychological and neurological characteristics. If we take, for example, drugs, then in a person who depends on some substance, we can find specific features in the work of the brain, as well as features in behavior. However, there is still controversy about sex addiction in this sense. So, last year, researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles published in the journal Socioaffective Neuroscience and Psychology an article in which they admitted that they did not find any special brain reaction in sex-addicted people. (Sex addiction itself was defined by purely psychological criteria.)

And in February of this year, a group of psychologists from the United States on the pages of Current Sexual Health Reports questioned the existence of porn addiction (that is, dependence on visual images of pornographic content): according to them, there are very few works on it, and those that are, quite doubtful in terms of reliability.


However, there are those for whom sex addiction is beyond doubt, and these include Michael Irvine ( Michael Irvine ) and his colleagues from the University of Cambridge. In an article published in PLoS ONE , they describe the results of an experiment in which researchers observed the brain response of people who watched pornographic videos (alternatively, they showed recordings of sports). Unlike colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles, who used EEG, British neuroscientists assessed brain function using fMRI.

Among the volunteers were those whose psychological symptoms indicated an obsessive sexual desire, in particular, they began to watch pornography relatively early and continued to watch it more often than other people. It turned out that in a “sex-obsessed” person, when watching an erotic video, the ventral part of the striatum, the amygdala and one of the areas of the cingulate cortex were especially strongly activated. These were precisely the zones that respond to drug stimuli in drug addiction: the striatum is related to the processes of motivation and feelings of satisfaction, the amygdala determines the importance of this or that action and is involved in the formation of emotions, and the cingulate cortex is activated when a person anticipates the pleasure of a drug. substances.

In other words, the brains of sex addicts respond to erotic stimuli in the same way that the brains of drug addicts respond to drug-related visual stimuli. Which, in turn, serves as a powerful argument to consider sex addiction as a clinical disease. True, people with a special craving for pornography participated in this experiment, and in fact an abnormal love for porn is not necessarily accompanied by increased sexual activity in real life, the desire to pester everyone you meet or meet, and so on in the same vein. So, perhaps in the future it will be necessary to conduct similar experiments with an emphasis on precisely such behaviors.

The heightened sensitivity of the described areas of the brain to erotic stimuli is especially high at a young age, however, according to the authors of the work, it was the strongest in people with obsessive sexual behavior. This may be due to both abnormal work of the striatum, and weak control from the frontal cortex, which, as you know, helps control our impulses and desires.

The authors of the work themselves emphasize that their results should not be used in the clinic yet - in this case, we are not talking about a diagnostic test that allows you to determine porn (or sex) addiction, but only that such addiction may have obvious neurological symptoms.

Treatment of sex addiction (sex addiction)

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Services and treatment

Treatment of addiction to sex (sexomania)

Sexual addiction is a compulsive form of sexual behavior, which is accompanied by a need for constant promiscuity.

Sexual thoughts, searching for partners, viewing pornographic materials, masturbation, seeking new types of sexual satisfaction - all this takes up a large part of the life of a person suffering from sexomania.

Sexual pleasures stimulate the production of the same substances in the brain that are produced when taking drugs or alcohol, as well as in obsessive-compulsive disorder. When for some reason it is not possible to get what they want, the addicted person can fall into a state of depression, which in many cases develops into depression.

Men are the most susceptible to sexomania. In women, sexual dependence is expressed in sexual contact with strangers or unfamiliar people.

If sex has become your main problem and interferes with other areas of your life, you need specialist help. Specialists of the Matspen Center are able to provide such assistance, regulate your life, improve relationships in the family and normalize the natural perception of your sexual needs.

Method of treatment

1 Working with a psychotherapist

One of the most effective methods of treating sex addiction is cognitive behavioral therapy. Working with a patient, a psychotherapist eliminates the main causes of the disorder, works to change attitudes towards sexual satisfaction and sex in general, helps to realize the danger of such a lifestyle and teaches the patient to control sexual impulses and replace them, switching attention to other equally interesting activities.

Learning to control sexual impulses, changing the patient's attitude towards sexual satisfaction to a less destructive one for himself and those around him.

2 Medication support

In the treatment of sex addiction, medication support is used to relieve symptoms such as low mood, aggressiveness, loss of appetite, depression. Both antidepressants and sedatives may be prescribed.

All appointments are given by a psychiatrist, under whose supervision the entire course of treatment, including taking medications, is carried out.

Changing the habitual way of life, whatever it may be, cannot but affect the emotional state. Sedatives and mild antidepressants may be prescribed as medical support.

3 The 12 Step Method

The effectiveness of the 12 Step program for addiction treatment is recognized throughout the world. Therefore, in the center "Matspen" in the treatment of sexual addiction, the patient is also recommended to undergo this program in the SA version (sex anonimus).

The main effect is that the patient gradually completely changes his worldview and thus shifts the focus to other areas of life.

The 12 Step Program is a well-organized psychotherapeutic process that is an important addition and enhances the effectiveness of the main treatment provided by the psychotherapist.

This method greatly facilitates the period of sexual abstinence and, along with the very fact of the presence of other program participants, provides indispensable support in the recovery process.

The most widely known and most effective method in the treatment of addictions. Along with a course of psychotherapy, it contributes to positive changes in the patient's attitude towards his addictions and facilitates the transition period to a new lifestyle and behavior.

4 Working with an instructor

During the period of getting rid of addiction, the patient always needs someone's help, someone must be there to support the addicted person in difficult times, not to let them give up and refuse treatment. This role is assumed by the instructors. These are experienced people who have mastered the course of getting rid of addiction by their own example. For the period of treatment, instructors become comrades of the patient - together with him they "go out into the world", accompany him to treatment and help solve everyday issues.

Instructors are former patients who have successfully overcome destructive drives, who support and motivate the sexaholic during the course of treatment and help him get used to the new role and circumstances.

5 Family therapy

If a patient has a family, then his sex addiction, of course, cannot but affect the relationship. To return them to normal, the therapist needs to conduct a series of family therapy sessions.

Having analyzed in detail the situations that interfered with a happy life, and having learned the correct communication within the family, the patient gets a chance to build family relationships anew.

Sex addiction is a problem primarily for family people. Therefore, in Matzpen, patients undergo family therapy sessions that help build relationships with loved ones.

As a result

In the center "Matspen" you are provided with a professional approach, caring staff, excellent living conditions and, most importantly, effective treatment. Returning home, you will no longer feel dependent on your sexual desires - you can direct them towards family happiness and well-being.