Hypersexuality should be considered an Expression of a Psychopathological Condition - A Joined Position Statement of SIAMS and SOPSI about the Best Practice for the Clinical Psycho-Sexology - Abstract
Several psychopathological dimensions have been associated with excessive or out-of-control sexual behavior, such as sexual impulsivity, sexual addiction, compulsive sexual behavior, and lately, hypersexuality. Generally, hypersexuality is characterized by a recurrent lack of control of intense and repetitive sexual impulses, which causes distress or clinically significant disorders in important areas of functioning. It has been estimated that hypersexuality may occur in 2-6% of individuals, with a higher prevalence in males and selected populations, such as sex offenders. Its multifaceted nature makes complex to classify hypersexuality as a specific diagnostic category or as comorbidity or a symptom of other psychopathological conditions. In this regard, due to the lack of consensus on the definition(s), the several methodological difficulties in its definition and assessment, and the multifactorial etiology of hypersexuality, its recognition and clinical evaluation still often leads the clinician to underdiagnose this symptom, bringing the patient to a wrong diagnosis and a wrong treatment.