Animal research has established that compulsive sexual behavior arises from the same transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms that mediate drug addiction in laboratory animals however, as of 2018, sexual addiction is not a clinical diagnosis in either the DSM or ICD medical classifications of diseases and medical disorders. There is considerable debate among psychiatrists, psychologists, sexologists, and other specialists whether compulsive sexual behavior constitutes an addiction, and therefore its classification and possible diagnosis. The concept of sexual addiction is contentious. Related or synonymous models of pathological sexual behavior include hypersexuality (nymphomania and satyriasis), erotomania, Don Juanism, and paraphilia-related disorders. The term sexual dependence is also used to refer to people who report being unable to control their sexual urges, behaviors, or thoughts. Proponents of a diagnostic model for sexual addiction consider it to be one of several sex-related disorders within hypersexual disorder. Sexual addiction, also known as sex addiction, is a state characterized by compulsive participation or engagement in sexual activity, particularly sexual intercourse, despite negative consequences.
