Psychophysiology & the Failure to Discriminate Sexual Compulsion as a Disorder
Best of ATSA 2023!
•
48m
Psychophysiology has been described as a “hub” science, where neuroscience, psychology, and physiology are joined to understand phenomena. Multiple levels of analysis are especially important in sexuality, where the sexual arousal that someone reports differs from the sexual arousal suggested by responses in the brain and genitals. These discrepancies are at the center of controversies regarding sex and masturbation/pornography as “addictions”. Clients often report feeling they are too sexually interested or responsive, yet the few assessments of genital response find evidence against these claims. Brain patterns consistent with high sex sensitivity do not discriminate for those with shame concerning a higher sex incentive motivation. The negative effects reported reflect stigma and partner conflict that remain uncontrolled/ignored in clinical trials. These oversights have resulted in literature that is completely at odds regarding clients who are distressed about the frequency of their sexual urges: addictions researchers on one side, sexuality researchers on the other side. I will clarify the different origins of behaviors driven by sexual control versus sexual dysregulation, which underlies why persons with sex offenses should not be in the “treatments” developed for those who are hypersexual. Further, the pretty brain pictures of supposed “hypersexuals” are not very convincing to a neuroscientist, especially with respect to their discriminate validity. The evidence required to make neuroimaging a compelling argument for a distinct disorder will be covered, including why I believe the likelihood of such evidence is rapidly approaching zero. The consequences of selecting the wrong model for these behaviors is not simply a nomenclature issue: it determines whether we help or harm our clients.
Up Next in Best of ATSA 2023!
-
What Do We Make of the Current Status...
The aim of the workshop is to describe and discuss issues in the paraphilias/paraphilic disorders that are included in DSM-5/DSM-5-TR or were rejected for inclusion as listed diagnoses at various stages in the development of these versions of the DSM. An obvious theme in the workshop is the add...
-
Prevalence & Trends of Sexual Recidiv...
For over 80 years, policies have been enacted to prevent justice-involved individuals who perpetrated sexual offenses from sexually reoffending. While the US and Canada started on a similar policy path, both countries took distinct policy path since the 1990s. While American policies have been fo...
-
Sexually Explicit Content, Social Med...
Sexually explicit content is easier to access than ever. Although mainstream websites are still used by many as ways to access such material, social media has provided yet another platform through which individuals, particularly youth, are exposed to pornography. Social media apps serve as teens’...