Sex addiction is an illness that can be treated with drugs therapy and counseling, a New Taipei City-based psychologist said on Tuesday, after Taiwanese-American musician Wang Leehom’s (王力宏) alleged infidelities sparked a week-long public debate.
Wang’s estranged wife, Lee Jing-lei (李靚蕾), has accused him of having extramarital affairs and sex with prostitutes, saying that he is addicted to sex, after Wang on Wednesday wrote on Facebook that the couple is getting divorced.
While Taiwanese and other Asian societies rarely discuss or acknowledge sex addiction, the condition is frequently invoked by Western celebrities and politicians embroiled in scandals, said Yang Tsung-tsair (楊聰財), who runs a mental health clinic in Sindian District (新店).
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Signs of sex addiction include being prone to infidelity, habitually seeking the services of prostitutes and feeling controlled by sexual urges, he said.
People with the condition might compulsively seek new sexual partners on a monthly basis, or experience restlessness that affects their ability to work or have a normal life, Yang said.
Although sex addiction affects men and women, the disorder is more prevalent in men, and the onset of symptoms typically occurs between ages 20 and 50, he said.
Sex addiction is often accompanied by narcissistic or histrionic personality disorders, which are linked to an unhappy or love-deprived childhood, especially a lack of rapport with their mother, Yang said.
As adults, those people might seek sexual relationships as a means to alleviate loneliness, he said.
The region of the hypothalamus known as the “pleasure center” is activated by enjoyable activities such as exercising, accomplishing goals, eating or having sex, he said.
Sex addicts predominantly rely on the latter for pleasure, he added.
People with the disorder can control their urges with the help of drugs that restore hormonal and emotional imbalances, and cognitive-behavioral therapy that corrects their approach to sex, relationships and emotional management patterns, he said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
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