Compulsive sexual behavior
If sexual behavior feels difficult to control and is affecting your life, you deserve a respectful conversation. You do not need to share intimate details here or judge your sexuality to explore support.
Focus on control and impact, not a judgement.
Compulsive sexual behaviour disorder is included in ICD-11 as an impulse-control disorder. DSM-5-TR does not include it as a separate diagnosis. The name does not mean that every concern about sex is an addiction.
Clinical descriptions concern a persistent difficulty controlling repetitive sexual behaviour with significant impairment or distress. High interest alone is insufficient, and distress entirely due to moral disapproval does not meet the description.
Based on Mayo Clinic · World Psychiatry · original authors
Your goals belong in the conversation.
- Control
What feels difficult to manage
- Impact
What is getting in the way of your life
- Context
Health, medicines and other explanations
- Your preferences
Privacy, goals and a respectful approach
High interest and moral discomfort are not enough for this diagnosis.
Clinical concern centers on persistent difficulty controlling behavior and significant impairment or distress. High sexual interest alone, or distress entirely based on moral disapproval, should not establish compulsive sexual behavior disorder.
ICD-11 classifies the disorder within impulse-control disorders. The DSM-5-TR does not list it as a separate diagnosis. These differences are a reason for careful assessment, not a judgment about identity or orientation.
Control and impact
What has become difficult and how it affects your life.
Wider context
Health, relationships, medicines and other relevant concerns.
Respectful care
Support that considers consent, wellbeing and your own goals.
Based on Mayo Clinic · Kraus and colleagues
What you may want support with.
These are reasons to have a conversation, not a checklist for diagnosing yourself or someone else. Sexual orientation and gender identity are not disorders.
Control concerns
Repeated difficulty controlling behavior despite wanting a change.
Everyday impact
Effects on responsibilities, relationships or your wellbeing.
Your values
Feeling unsure how to distinguish your values from a control problem.
Your privacy
Wanting a private, respectful discussion of support options.
Based on Mayo Clinic · World Psychiatry · original authors
A specialist conversation considers the wider picture.
A qualified professional can discuss control, impact and your goals alongside physical health, medicines, mood and other possible explanations. An episode related to mania or a substance needs its own assessment.
You can ask how the service approaches sexuality and what its confidentiality limits are before giving a detailed history. Frequency alone cannot establish this diagnosis.
Based on Mayo Clinic · World Psychiatry · original authors
- 1The difficulty
Describe control and impact in general terms if that is easier.
- 2The approach
Ask how the professional distinguishes behavior concerns from moral distress.
- 3Your boundaries
Ask about privacy, your goals and how care will be reviewed.
Support should fit the concern and your goals.
You and an appropriate specialist can discuss support for your own goals.
Based on Mayo Clinic
Ask for an experienced, respectful clinician.
An assessment can consider mental and physical health and other explanations. Psychological care may help address difficult patterns while supporting healthy, consensual sexuality and relationships.
You can ask about a clinician’s experience, confidentiality and its limits before deciding what to share. Do not use a broad score to label someone else.
Based on Mayo Clinic
Find support. Prepare your next step.
Find care or prepare a conversation. You can ask for help before you have a diagnosis.
Your first sentence does not need to be perfect.
You can ask a mental health or sexual health professional about experience with persistent control concerns. You do not have to tell an explicit story to start that conversation.
Based on Mayo Clinic
“I am concerned about control and the effect on my life. I would like a respectful assessment that considers my goals and distinguishes this from moral distress.”Make it sound like you
Your questions, with room for nuance.
You can read just the answer you need.
Does feeling ashamed about sexual interest prove a disorder?
No. Shame or moral disapproval alone does not establish this diagnosis. A respectful clinician should consider control, impairment, the source of distress and the broader context.
Based on Kraus and colleagues
Where this information comes from.
Use this hub to learn and prepare questions. It does not diagnose you or recommend a personal treatment plan. By Selfmora editorial; sources checked . Updated .
Additional explanations and examples: sources consulted . Examples illustrate ideas; they do not assess your personal health. Your questions
- Compulsive sexual behavior: diagnosis and treatment
- Compulsive sexual behaviour disorder in the ICD-11: classification context