Study Questions Whether 'Sex Addiction' Is Real

Brian responses don't match what is seen in other addictions

Sex addiction has often made headlines, with celebrities blaming their romantic foibles on the condition. However, a new study questions the notion that people can truly be "addicted" to sex.

The new study from the University of California, Los Angeles, suggests that self-professed "addicts" may simply have a high sex drive.

"It is the first time scientists have studied the brain responses specifically of people who identify as having hypersexual problems," study senior author Nicole Prause, a researcher in the department of psychiatry at UCLA, said in a university news release.

Sex addiction is typically diagnosed in people who have sexual urges that feel out of control, who engage frequently in sexual behavior, who have suffered consequences such as divorce or economic ruin as a result of their sexual behaviors, and who have a poor ability to reduce those behaviors.