David Duchovney in rehab for sex addiction

Posted by Rachel Harvey on August 31, 2008 
Filed Under In the news

In Friday’s class we viewed clips from the popular TV show “Californication.” But also yesterday, in a real-life twist, the show’s star, Duchovney, checked into rehab for sex addiction. The Reuters news story likens sex addiction to alcoholism:

Duchovny’s announcement on Thursday that he was voluntarily going into rehab for sex addiction after years of denying he had a problem, threw a spotlight on a disorder that few celebrities, and even fewer ordinary men and women, admit to.

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. “The concept of sexual addiction is a controversial one and that’s because it is difficult to define,” said Dr. Steve Eichel, an addiction specialist who works in Delaware. “There are a lot of people who are critical of the concept because we live in a society that tends to over medicalize and which makes every behavior, which deviates from the norm, an addiction or a disorder,” Eichel said. Sexual health experts estimate that about 3-5 percent of Americans have the disorder, including women.

The full report from Reuters raises several important issues we will cover later in the semester. What are your initial thoughts about sex addiction? Do you consider it a serious disorder similar to alcoholism or gambling addiction? When does enjoyment become addiction? And what do you think the expert quoted in the story meant by the suggestion that our society tends to treat deviations from the norm as medical disorders?

Comments

21 Responses to “David Duchovney in rehab for sex addiction”

  1. Candice on August 31st, 2008 1:43 pm

    I think sex adddiction is just as serious as any other ofense becasue it not only endangers the life of the predator, but other innocent people. In some cases, even young children are brought into the picture. The behavior if left untreated can lead to habits of sex offenders and even rapests, when urges are at their all time high.

  2. Sigrun Ahlquist on August 31st, 2008 3:30 pm

    I think any enjoyment becomes an addiction when a person begins to arrange every aspect of his or her life around one thing. When that one thing becomes the only important thing, there is a problem. I wouldn’t necessarily call sex addiction a disorder, but something does need to be done about it, such as councilling.

  3. Mirela on August 31st, 2008 7:47 pm

    I believe anything can become an addiction, and when someone is addicted to something, and they will do anything to get it, it becomes dangerous. For this reason, I feel that sex addiction is a dangerously serious disorder that must be taken into account by psychologists. I believe enjoyment turns to addiction when you MUST have whatever it is that makes you happy; enjoyment turns into addiction when you cease to function without that which you are addicted to.

  4. Lauren Sanborn on August 31st, 2008 8:06 pm

    Sex addiction is a disorder that can seriously interfere with a person’s daily life. Thoughts, acts of, and desire for sex consume the person’s mind and behavior impairing that person from functioning normally in society. I personally commend Mr. Duchoveny for checking himself into rehab to relieve his state of emotional and physical distress especially since he is in the public eye and knew the consequences that would come of checking into rehab for sex addiction. Unfortunately, this event will probably fuel the media’s plea for the removal of sex on television as I’m sure they will place a significant amount of blame on his role in Californication for the drive of his sexual addiction. I think society can’t handle the idea of unusual or unacceptable/immoral behaviors such as sex addiction and that is why they automatically default to a medical disorder. Society had a similar initial impact to homosexuals by claiming it was a mental disorder until the late 1970s. Americans don’t want to be seen as corrupt and devilish beings and currently sex is a behavior that they believe portrays them that way and is therefore frowned upon being publicly advertised.

  5. Kristin Drew on August 31st, 2008 8:13 pm

    Wow. The X-Files to the Sex-Files.

    Without a doubt, addictions are a painful concept for an addict and his/her family. However, I think that this issue enforces the idea mentioned in the lecture about reality vs fantasy. Obviously Duchovney’s Californication character lived a wildly promiscous existence (according to today’s standards), but the ‘actual’ David Duchovney voluntarily seeks treatment because he thinks that he was having “too much” sex. I think that this story enlightens the average American that television programs do not reflect sexual norms of American standards. In fact, I once heard a joke in a movie stating that America is a country founded by prudes who left Europe. Is this sexual conformity a good or bad thing? I truly cannot tell you because it is not my place to judge.

    Despite all this, I still think Mr. Duchovney to be an excellent thespian. I think that he is taking a brave step to seek treatment for this addiction (no matter how severe). I think that sex addiction can get serious when sex destroys your life to the point where you risk your job, your family, your money, etc.

  6. Cristina on August 31st, 2008 8:41 pm

    There is actually a program on Discovery Health airing tonight at 9:00 PM titled “Hypersexual Behavior,” followed by another program titled “The Anatomy of Sex” which relate to the subject.

  7. Oscar T on August 31st, 2008 9:19 pm

    the question is
    when is it too much? what is the limit between a normal human action and an addiction?
    when it interferes with your daily life? we should discuss this on monday. it’ll be a great way to see what modern standards are.

  8. Chelsea Taitelman on August 31st, 2008 10:14 pm

    I agree with Sigrun. Sex crosses the line from enjoyment to addiction when a person’s life changes based on their compulsion to meet their sexual urges. When a person’s job or family takes the backseat to fulfilling sexual “needs” then sex is no longer just enjoyable, it has become an addiction. Just as alcohol becomes problematic once it starts interfering with/altering a person’s normal life, sex becomes problematic or addictive when a person changes his/her life in order to have more sex.

  9. Justine Allen on September 1st, 2008 12:20 am

    I always have the tendency to be very suspicious of these types of “addictions”. Yes, it is true that some people may actually suffer from a physical addiction, but you still have to wonder, in most cases, is it an addiction or just a loophole? Even in grade school, students will receive extra time on tests because they have ADD. I genuinely feel that at least half of these students don’t actually suffer from this disorder, but rather, are looking for an easy way to up their test scores. This can apply to any “addiction” or “disorder”. How can you tell when its an actual issue or perhaps just an act?

    “Why is everything thats supposed to be bad make me feel so good?
    Everything that they told me not to is exactly what I would
    Man, I tried to stop man, I tried the best I could but…
    It makes me smile with my heart”

  10. Olivia on September 1st, 2008 9:29 am

    To make a comment about the last question, I think the expert is saying how things such as an overly active child are immediately seen as abnormal and worthy of being checked for ADHD or something of the sort. People might find a “sex addiction” a petty excuse for a real medical problem, because to them it’s just a person that likes sex a lot. Big deal. So, when they hear that a celebrity has just gone to rehab for sex addiction, many people likely see it as either a way for the celebrity to get in the headlines or a way to fill up one of the sections in People Magazine.

  11. Sarah on September 1st, 2008 3:48 pm

    I agree with Sigrun and Chelsea, that it’s a problem when it begins to run your life, but I can also see why it would be difficult to diagnose- It is so true that American society tends to over medicalize everything; every time you turn on TV there are tons of commercials listing symptoms and illness and medications and it just leads to an overall sense of hypochondria in our culture. People are going to think that really really enjoying sex and wanting it frequently is a serious condition, when only (as the experts estimate) 3-5% of all people have the disorder. The difficulty comes in for doctors to decide who actually has a problem and those who are just panicing because they are horny. However I do think it was good for the actor to seek help despite potential public reaction.

  12. Charkivia Lovett on September 1st, 2008 4:52 pm

    I believe that sexual addiction isn’t as destructed as the other addictions because if you want to you can stop the sex addiction. I believe that sex is all up in your mind, if you want to stop you will and if you don’t it can become an addiction.Our horomones causes us to feel as if we need sex, but initially you don’t.Gambling and alcoholism is serious because alcoholism causes you to lose focus and it messes up your health. To an extent i think sexual addiction is serious because if you have sex with many different people it could led to disease, that’s the only seriousness of it.Enjoyment to addiction is when you would do everything and anything to get that pleasure, no matter the risks.Our society creates our culture controlling what’s normal and what’s not, culture creates ideals as to whether or not addictions become medical disorders.

  13. Jacky P. on September 1st, 2008 8:26 pm

    Its hard to say if it is a true disorder or not. Generally, people with his fame and wealth are hardly faithful. To justify his infidelities, most likely because they would be publicied, he plays the “Im a sex addict” card like a helpless victim. I don’t doubt that there are some people with this disorder, however it seems to be very uncommon and unlikely that David suffers from it.

  14. Cydney Sims on September 2nd, 2008 2:30 pm

    I just really like David Duchovney you guys should listen to a song about him by Bree Sharpe. Its not well known but its amazing. X files was my favorite. Also, I think an addiction is real if that person facing the addiction believes they are suffering from it.

  15. Sarah on September 2nd, 2008 2:35 pm

    Charkivia - you can’t say that it’s not a real addiction because you can stop if you want to. you can stop gambling if you want to, and stop drinking or smoking or doing heroine if you want to. the point that is that it is an addiction when you can’t stop. and as cyndey said, if someone feels that it is controlling their life and they have the problem then they should seek help. people can be addicted to anything in the world, its called OCD.

  16. Charkivia Lovett on September 3rd, 2008 6:44 pm

    Sarah i understand what your saying completely but you have total control, and you can allow yourself to take it take control of your life or not. If you don’t want it to then it doesn’t have to be that way. But i do understnad your point.

  17. Brian Tyler on September 7th, 2008 1:16 am

    CNN Online has now picked up this conversation, and right now it is the top “Popular News” story:
    http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/09/05/sex.addiction/index.html

    The piece touches on a number of the comments discussed here, but it also starts out discussing how perhaps sexual “addiction” has more to do with a psychological need for human contact rather than with an actual addiction to sexual activity. The rest of the article mentions gender issues, potential biological mechanisms, and treatment programs, yet concludes that “the goal of sex addiction therapy is usually not abstinence, but rather learning to have sex in a relationship.”

    In light of the comments here, I wonder if sex addiction is more difficult to diagnose as a “disorder” - unlike, perhaps, drug or alcohol addiction - in part because of the possible (and probable?) non-biological aspects.

  18. James on September 8th, 2008 11:33 pm

    I think to assign blame to the show is purely speculative; it makes a certain intuitive sense sure, but that proves nothing.
    That being said, the concept of an actor becoming too deeply involved in a role is not that new.
    It’s hard to really make correlations like that without a time line or something to that effect.

    I’m curious as to how many people who are attribute his claims of sex addiction to the series have actually seen the show. I watched it regularly when it aired, and am anticipating the second season. If you were to actually watch the show, and cope with overt sexuality, I would hope you might discover what the show is to me; a story about a depressed man, not due to his sexuality (which is more of a manifestation of his plight), who sees few options in the vein of getting his life back the way he feels it needs to be for him to happy.

    And I really am curious as to how many have watched it, I realize the phrasing above might come off as aggressive. It’s not meant to be, I just can’t think of a better wording.

  19. James on September 8th, 2008 11:35 pm

    Please excuse the sentences that make little grammatical sense. I now realize proof-reading should take place before submission.

  20. yoelvis on September 9th, 2008 8:43 pm

    excuse me CON am sorry… PERO, i really agree with Sigrun, its not a DISEASE or a DISORDER, you people make such a big deal out of it. yes i do agree that the guy should consider seen some one about it. but its not like the world is coming down, we all know that more than half of the class has never had sex, and if you do have had sex you know that its good,and it feels good. and i know where you are coming from. PERO it not like your gonna become a flipin “RAPEST” or a “PREDATOR” like SOME ONE SAID!………its dum to say that. yeah the guy should consider seen some one about it.
    peace.

  21. deb on September 12th, 2008 10:53 pm

    My opinion…..Though this may be a very real issue for some. Far too many just use it as an excuse to justify cheating. Too bad one never seems to be addicted to self control.

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