380

Diagnosing Mental

Disorders

Anxiety Disorders

Trauma-Related and

Obsessive-Compulsive

Disorders

Depressive and Bipolar

Disorders

Personality Disorders

Substance-Related and

Addictive Disorders

Dissociative Identity Disorder

Schizophrenia

Psychology in the News,

Revisited

Taking Psychology With

You: When a Friend is

Suicidal

Psychological

disoRdeRs

11

Psychology in the news

Celebrity Scandals Revive Sex-Addiction

Debate

TUCSON, AZ, March 31, 2010. Motorcycle mogul Jesse James,

Sandra Bullock’s estranged husband, has reportedly checked

himself into an Arizona rehab facility, the Sierra Tucson treat-

ment center. News recently emerged that James has had

several extramarital flings, including an 11-month affair with

a reputed stripper, Michelle “Bombshell” McGee. The Tucson

facility specializes in treating addictions, and because James

is not known to have abused drugs or alcohol, speculation

has centered on whether he is being treated for a sexual

addiction. His representative told People magazine only that

James had entered rehab “to deal with personal issues,” add-

ing that “he realized that this time was crucial to help him-

self, help his family, and help save his marriage.”

A similar scandal erupted earlier this year with the rev-

elation that champion golfer Tiger Woods had had more than a

dozen extramarital affairs. Woods promptly checked himself into

the Pine Grove clinic in Mississippi for rehabilitation. The de-

tails were not made public, but among the courses offered at the

clinic are “shame reduction” and “setting sexual boundaries.”

These and other high-profile cases of sexual infidelity

have provoked controversy about whether people who have

serial sexual affairs have a sexual “addiction.” Palo Alto sex

therapist Marty Klein thinks sex addiction is a bogus term that

trivializes the meaning of true addiction, which is a physi-

ological reliance on a substance like drugs or alcohol. “I don’t

see sex addicts,” Klein says. “I see people who use sex in de-

structive ways.” If an addiction is defined as any behavior that

someone repeats despite the risk of serious consequences,

almost any sexual affair might qualify, and so might visiting a

prostitute or viewing pornography. Because the diagnosis is so

vague, many mental health professionals and laypeople alike

think it is mostly an excuse for cheating. As comic Jimmy

Jesse James has checked into a rehab facility specializing in

addictions, saying he wanted help with his problems.