Assessment and Diagnosis of Sexual Addiction

As many as 20 million people in the United States are affected by sexual addiction. However, few clinicians assess for its existence, and most nursing program curricula are not addressing this phenomenon. Sexual addiction often coexists with substance addiction, and both can be destructive to persons and families. Clinicians who recognize the risk factors for possible sexual addiction, often revealed in the initial psychiatric assessment, can further assess for its existence in patients. The authors present an algorithm to enhance clinicians’ abilities to recognize, assess, and diagnose sexual addiction during a substance addiction assessment.

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