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Rewriting the Conversation Around Sex Addiction

Mental Health Rewritten

Release Date: 05/14/2025

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🎙️ Welcome to Episode 1 of Mental Health Rewritten! In our season-opening episode, we confront one of the most misunderstood and stigmatized topics in mental health: sex addiction. Through the story of Daniel — a man whose professional success masks a deep internal struggle — we explore how compulsive sexual behavior impacts relationships, careers, and personal identity.  Along the way, we challenge misconceptions about sex addiction, examine its clinical roots, and highlight the hidden pain it causes across gender lines and around the world. 🧠 Featuring clinical insights from...

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🎙️ Welcome to Episode 1 of Mental Health Rewritten!

In our season-opening episode, we confront one of the most misunderstood and stigmatized topics in mental health: sex addiction.

Through the story of Daniel — a man whose professional success masks a deep internal struggle — we explore how compulsive sexual behavior impacts relationships, careers, and personal identity. 

Along the way, we challenge misconceptions about sex addiction, examine its clinical roots, and highlight the hidden pain it causes across gender lines and around the world.

🧠 Featuring clinical insights from Havi Kang, Dr. Justin Dodson, and Dr. Alexandra Katehakis, alongside research from Mayo Clinic and YouGov, we uncover:

  • What defines sex addiction and compulsive sexual behavior

  • Why shame and secrecy make healing harder

  • How societal stigma silences both men and women

  • The global scope of this often-taboo disorder

Rooted in research from the DSM-5 and ICD-11, and grounded in real-world stories, Mental Health Rewritten opens conversations where silence once reigned.

🎧 Tune in to hear how Daniel’s journey toward healing begins — and how, together, we can start to rewrite the narrative about addiction, identity, and hope.

🔗 Listen now and subscribe for upcoming episodes exploring suicide, racial trauma, and more.

🧠 Reminder: Mental health challenges are as real — and as serious — as physical ones.
If you or someone you know needs help, please reach out to a mental health professional.

 

Mental Health Rewritten, created by the OWLS Education Company, is hosted, written and produced by Dominic Lawson

 

Executive Producer Kenda Lawson and Dr. Whitney Howzell

 

Cover art was created by Alexandria Eddings of Art Life Connections. 

 

Referenced & Supporting Sources

  1. Does Society Have a Sex Addiction Problem?
    Mayo Clinic Health System
    https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/does-society-have-a-sex-addiction-problem

  2. Is Sex Addiction a Real Disorder? Majority of Americans Believe It Is
    Newsweek / YouGov Poll (2018)
    https://www.newsweek.com/sex-addiction-real-disorder-majority-americans-believe-it-1037560

  3. Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder in ICD-11
    World Health Organization / ICD-11 Browser
    https://icd.who.int/browse11/l-m/en#/http://id.who.int/icd/entity/1630268048

  4. Why Sex Addiction Was Not Included in DSM-5
    APA DSM-5 Task Force Discussion via Cleveland Clinic
    https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21934-sex-addiction

  5. AASECT Position on Sex Addiction
    American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (2016)
    https://www.aasect.org/position-sex-addiction

  6. Brain Activity in Sex Addiction Mirrors That of Drug Addiction
    Cambridge University Study (PLOS ONE, 2014)
    https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140711095956.htm

  7. Is Sexual Addiction the Real Deal?
    UCLA Brain Study – EEG Research on Hypersexuality (2013)
    https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/study-casts-doubt-on-sex-addiction-246011

  8. Sex Addiction and Childhood Trauma in Men
    University of Georgia, College of Education (2024)
    https://coe.uga.edu/news/2024-04-study-links-childhood-trauma-emotional-abuse-to-sex-addiction-in-men

  9. Infidelity Statistics (U.S. Marriages)
    Cooper Trachtenberg Law Group – Updated 2024
    https://www.mcooperlaw.com/infidelity-stats-2024

  10. Compulsive Sexual Behavior and Culture – A Clinical View
    APA PsycNet – Middle Eastern & Global Treatment Challenges
    https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2020-89404-008

  11. Assessment and Treatment of CSBD: A Sexual Medicine Perspective
    Springer / Current Sexual Health Reports
    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11930-019-00189-9

  12. Sex Addiction in the UK: Rebecca Barker’s Story
    BBC News – Personal Narrative
    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-43921760

  13. Understanding Denial in Sexual Offending and Addictive Behavior
    Washington State Sex Offender Policy Board
    https://sgc.wa.gov/sites/default/files/public/SOPB/conference2018/Borg_presentation.pdf

  14. CDC Historical Divorce Statistics – U.S. Marriage Trends
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/95facts/fs_439s.htm

🔗 Referenced Articles & Research