Maybe the X-Rated Files?

"So, what're you doing after we finish filming today?"

addiction
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( -d k sh n)
1. A physical or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, such as a drug or alcohol. In physical addiction, the body adapts to the substance being used and gradually requires increased amounts to reproduce the effects originally produced by smaller doses. See more at withdrawal.

So, actor David Duchovny is a sex addict. That was something I’d always wanted to know about, because I really, really cared. God, the tragedies in some people’s lives, eh. While there are some concerned about ill-health, poverty, war, pestilence, where the hell the kids are at this godawful hour, Mr. Duchovny is distressed about his rampant horniness.

Is his sex addiction and his announcement thereof that he is going into rehab for it merely a matter of TMI compounded by bad taste, or is it something we should really be concerned about at, oh, I don’t know, a societal level?

What is the role of his wife, the beauteous Tea Leoni in all of this? I mean, if I was going around making public declaratrions that I was a rampant stag and it was really getting me down and I wanted all the world to know about it, I think my spouse might have some thoughts on the matter, including ones that contained the message: “Will you shut the fuck up!”

Anyway, here is one definition of this grievous affliction of sex addiction

:
Often likened to alcoholism, drug addiction or gambling, sex addiction is a form of compulsive behavior which is sending growing numbers of people into therapy but which is not formally recognized as a "diagnosable disorder" by the American Psychiatric Association.

According to this movement, a sex addict is typically someone who is frequently fantasizing or doing sexual things, even despite a dislike for such. This person’s sexual behaviors are considered out of control ... . for example, masturbating more than once a day. A sex addict is also one whose sexual behaviors fail to mirror his or her highest possible self.

So, the APA doesn’t recognize the affliction as actually being an affliction. As an addictions counsellor, I tend to agree with that august body. I know tthere is a Sex Addicts Anonymous body – “I admitted I was powerless over compulsive screwing and that my life had become unmanageable,” – but anybody can start a 12-step group about anything, should they so choose. Pathological Peanut Munchers Anonymous, anyone?

My thoughts on the matter are, if Mr. Duchovny’s obsessions and behavior are putting a strain on the marriage, then maybe that’s something that he and the missus should work out between them, along with some marriage counseling. If his sexual obsessions are leading to promiscuity and infidelity, then he and the missus ‘really’ have some things to work out between them. If his compulsions are leading him to court the services of professional sex providers, then he and Officer O’Toole of the Vice Squad might end up having something to work out between them.

My point in all of this is that it tends to trivialize the agonies undergone by those who suffer from what I regard as ‘real’ addictions, such as alcohol and drugs. You see, that shit can kill you, and will unless the addictions can be arrested. They are what genuine rehab and recovery programs are all about. I have seen people go to prisons, hospitals, die prematurely or utterly ruin their lives and the lives of family members due to their genuine addictions. Saddest are those who seem unable to get to the stage of grasping the steps they must take to be liberated from their misery. And there are many of those and it’s a sickening spectacle.

Some overprivileged actor sort who cannot keep his pecker in his pants just doesn’t cut it with me as an object of sympathy or even vague concern.

What is sex addiction? We all, men and women, have libidos that vary in intensity and due to the circumstances we’re in at any time. Sometimes it depends on the mood we’re in, the stsate of our general health, and the person we’re with. Some people, let’s face it, get them old pheromones soaring. We can feel rampant or neutral. And some people, perhaps like Mr. Duchovny, have libidos that are very demanding. This is the Errol Flynn or Bill Clinton Syndrome, I believe.

I just cannot bring myself to accept that the addiction of a horny guy (or girl) falls into the same category as that of a junkie or alcoholic. I do not believe that a withdrawing sex addict lies on his or her lonely cot sweating buckets, puking, shaking, suffering agonizing nightmares, screaming out or going through the horrors of the DTs. I have never heard of a sex addict ending up in hospital, a psychiatric ward, jail (well, except maybe Hugh Grant), or dying prematurely and in excruciating pain. You don’t find a lot of sex addicts living under viaducts drinking from a brown paper bag, or squatting in crack hosues in fecal flith and agony. Addicts undergoing withdrawal from drugs and booze can and do die. I’ve known some. I suspect the most horrible manifestation a withdrawing sex addict might have to undergo is a bit of crankiness.

It just doesn’t work for me. And, I really, really, really like sex, by the way. So, good luck to Mr. Duchovny and may his pain not be too great.

Oh, and I was never a really big fan of the X-Files, either.



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