What is nymphomania? The evolution of this concept in mental health

The term "nymphomania" is popularly known, but is no longer considered valid. Let's see why.

Although historically there has been an attempt to stigmatize the nature of human beings, it is clear that almost all of us like sex. According to studies provided by the portal Statista, in 2020, 2% of Spaniards had sex every day, while almost 40% of the general population had sex 1 to 4 times a week. Only 4% of the inhabitants of this country claim not to have had intimate relations at any time in their lives.

Sexual relations are part of our existence in every sphere, from an ordinary conversation to movies, television, news and almost every form of entertainment. On a Biological level, reproduction allows us to leave offspring and a genetic imprint on the following generations, which according to Darwin, is the ultimate goal of all living beings governed by natural selection.

For all these reasons, establishing a boundary between desire, instinct, symptom and pathology is an enormously complex task. The term "nymphomania" (or better designated, hypersexuality) is one that has created controversy and debate in the community of psychologists around the world, as it is still unclear whether it falls into the category of "nymphomania" or not.It is still unclear whether it falls into the pathological realm or not. If you want to know more about it, read on.

What is nymphomania?

Nymphomania (also described according to sources as hypersexuality or, failing that, sex addiction) is defined as. compulsive sexual behavior that interferes with the patient's daily tasks, causing severe stress to the person, family members, friends and social circles.. Nymphomania has several names, from sexual dependence to sexual compulsivity, sex addiction or hypersexuality, among others.

By definition, it is a compulsive behavior that completely dominates the addict's life in every sense of the word.. This extremely frequent and sudden increase in libido is considered both a symptom and a pathology in its own right, but as we shall see below, there is no established consensus on the subject.

Nymphomania in the professional literature

First of all, we would like to emphasize that we are going to use the term nymphomaniac to designate both men and women, since the concept only towards the female gender does not make any sense. The correct word is hypersexuality, since "nymphomania", as a word articulated towards women, only perpetuates certain behaviors and beliefs with ideological roots.only perpetuates certain behaviors and beliefs with ideological roots.

Hypersexuality disorder was proposed as a pathology in the year 2010 by the organization Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Workgroup. Their goal was to have this condition included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). This book, written and edited by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), establishes clear cut-off points between what is considered pathological and what is not.

Fortunately or unfortunately, after much debate and research, this disorder was not included in the DSM-5, the current version that was published in May 2013. Sexual addiction as a concept has also been rejected in the past by the APA, with professionals in the field ruling that there is insufficient evidence to link hypersexual behavior with an addictive disorder.. However, this does not mean that problems with the management and regulation of sexual behavior linked to the lack of impulse control cannot be a reason for consultation, although it will not be intervened as it is done with addictions, but adapted to the specific problem of the person.

In any case, the scientific article Sexual addiction: independent entity or comorbid symptom? argues the following: the DSM-V has dismissed hypersexual disorder (HSD), but patients continue to visit psychiatric clinics for increased sexual fantasies, arousal, urges and thoughts that cause them significant physical and psychological discomfort..

The criteria for detecting hypersexual behavior.

The prevalence of hypersexual behaviors is estimated at range from 1.4 to 19.3% of the general populationalthough the studies that postulate these figures are highly variable, as there is not even an ironclad criterion for diagnosing the alleged condition. In any case, it has been estimated that only 1% of the population, at any given time and place, seek help for their sexual proclivities.

With these data in hand, it is more than clear that there must be some underlying pattern to the behavior of the typical nymphomanic patient. The diagnostic criteria for HST proposed by the DSM-5 working group, although they have been dismissed, are as follows. During a period of at least 6 months, the patient shows fantasies, impulses and behaviors whose severity is quantified based on 4 clinical criteria:

• The patient consumes excessive time in these thoughts.
• The patient develops them in response to stressful events.
• He tries to control them but cannot.
• He puts himself at risk to act them out, even though he is aware of the harm he may cause with them.
• There is clinically significant distress in the patient because of these behaviors. It should also be possible to associate these fantasies with social and functional impairment.
• These fantasies are not due to drug use and are not derived from manic episodes.
• The person must be at least 18 years of age.

As you can see, this is a relatively clear diagnosis. A person must present these traits for at least 6 months and be of legal age to be considered a nymphomaniac, but again, it should be noted that depending on the source, this diagnosis may be completely disregarded. We repeat that the pathological state of this condition has not been accepted and, therefore, there is no standardized treatment for it, there is no standardized treatment for it..

Nymphomania and gender

Making a last stop for gender dynamics was essential in this thematic. According to the scientific article Hypersexuality Addiction and Withdrawal: Phenomenology, Neurogenetics and Epigeneticsthere is a clear gender bias when it comes to nymphomania, as men are more likely to masturbate, to show sexual tendencies, to consume visual material of a sexual nature and to conceive sex as something more casual and lax. Thus, we are not surprised to learn that the prevalence of this "disorder" is estimated at 3% in men and 1.2% in women.

On the other hand, it is clear that in the female gender not only sex is not so present, but it is condemned when sexual desire is manifested in the general culture on the part of women. We need only look at the rejection generated by certain audiovisual materials created by women on this subject: when a man does it, it is to be expected, but in the female gender, it is an act of obscenity.

Summary

With all these studies and scientific data, we wanted to show that the term "nymphomania" implies little or nothing at a psychological level, much less if it is only applied to women. The correct word in both genders is hypersexuality and, even so, this is not even considered a pathology by the APA today, although under this term can be grouped various problems and sources of dissatisfaction that do require attending therapy.

For all these reasons, we would like to emphasize that, unfortunately, certain terms are used more to do harm on a social level than to help a sick person. than to help a sick person. We cannot help but think that calling a woman a nymphomaniac, without argument or cause, is a way of expressing that the female gender should not show its sexuality. Sex belongs to everyone and for everyone, so shaming a person for enjoying it is a lack of individual rights.

Looking for psychotherapy or sex therapy services?

If you are interested in having the support of a psychologist or sexology professionals, please contact us. At Avance Psychologists we can attend you both in our center located in Madrid and online by video call.

Bibliographic references:

• Actis, C. C., Chicote, M. C., Cervera, S. C., & Víctor, D. R. (2015). Sex addiction:independent pathology or comorbid symptom? Cuadernos de medicina psicosomática y psiquiatria de enlace, (115), 19-26.
• Blum, K., Badgaiyan, R. D., & Gold, M. S. (2015). Hypersexuality addiction and withdrawal: phenomenology, neurogenetics and epigenetics. Cureus, 7(10).
• Derbyshire, K. L., & Grant, J. E. (2015). Compulsive sexual behavior: A review of the literature. Journal of behavioral addictions, 4(2), 37-43.
• Frequency with which Spaniards had sex as of August 2020, Statista. Retrieved April 13 from https://es.statista.com/estadisticas/510448/frecuencia-en-las-relaciones-sexuales-de-los-espanoles/.