Thomas, a prosperous banker and respected member of his community, leads a secret life where he dresses in his wife's clothes and lingerie in the evening and sets out soliciting sex. He thought that he was recognized by neighbors on a couple of occasions and has had close shaves with the law. However, he can think about nothing but his secret sexual life as the day draws to a close and has even devised certain rituals leading up to his evening jaunts. He finds it impossible to control his urges and behavior though he feels scared and guilty after he's back home. Nevertheless, Thomas reasons that this "distraction" is necessary for him to be able to cope with his high-stress job. Though Thomas tries to tell himself otherwise, the revelation of his secret will surely destroy his home and
professional life. Does Thomas suffer from a sexual addiction? Support your answer with material from the text.
What will be an ideal response?
Yes, Thomas does seem to be suffering from a sexual addiction. Much like alcoholics, sexual addicts too deny and distort reality and engage in self-justification. The addiction also leads to self-destructive behaviors. Plus, the chief distinguishing feature of sexual addiction is loss of control over the behavior. Thomas's behavior also aligns with Carnes's description of the four-step cycle of preoccupation, rituals, compulsiveness, and despair, which intensifies each time it is repeated. Thomas is preoccupied with the act all day, enacts rituals as a prelude to the act, has an uncontrollable urge to cross-dress and look for sex, and falls into a feeling of hopelessness and despair after he is through with the act. Thomas's addiction already shows signs of having spiraled out of control judging by his obliviousness to the harmful and dangerous consequences of his act.
You might also like to view...
Stedman and Calista are delivering their first child. Calista has been in labor for twelve hours and pushing for forty-five minutes. Stedman, eagerly anticipating the long-awaited arrival of their baby,
shouts out that he can finally see the top of their baby's head! To what is this referring? a. posturing c. breaching b. capping d. crowning
Which is an example of a "panic creator" type of obscene phone call?
a. The phone caller breathes heavily into the phone so that his victim hears him as he masturbates. b. The phone caller calls a crisis center and, while relaying a false story to a female volunteer, masturbates. c. The phone caller pretends he is a graduate student giving a "sexual behavior survey" for a research study and requests that his victim reveal private sexual information about herself as part of the survey. d. The phone caller falsely informs the victim that he is holding someone close to her hostage and that if she wants the hostage freed, she must undress and masturbate.
Which of the following statements is true about treatments for sexual disorders?
A. Vaginismus is treated most successfully with sensate focus exercises. B. Directed masturbation is quite successful for primary orgasmic dysfunction. C. The squeeze technique has high failure rates for treating premature orgasm. D. Various treatments for secondary orgasmic dysfunctions appear to be more successful than those for primary orgasmic dysfunctions.
Which of the following is true of the umbilical cord?
A. It connects the woman's navel with that of the fetus's. B. It is attached to the placenta and provides the fetus with nutrients. C. It differentiates into the digestive and respiratory system of the fetus. D. It is formed after embryonic development is completed.