The World Health Organization (WHO) has flagged sex addiction as a form of mental illness.
This means those addicted to sex needs medical advice and intervention.
According to WHO listing, “The condition is marked by a persistent pattern of failure to control ones intense, repetitive urges resulting in repetitive sexual behaviour.”
WHO recently included gaming addiction as one of the treatable conditions.
Dr. Valerie Booth, Royal College of Psychiatrists, said “adding compulsive sexual disorder in the classification of treatable conditions indeed paves way for patients to come forward and seek professional help.
“Earlier though the behaviour tended to be a hidden one among the affected, which led to sex addicts secretly suffering from the condition“.
Meanwhile, WHO has released its new International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).
The ICD is the foundation for identifying health trends and statistics worldwide, and contains around 55 000 unique codes for injuries, diseases and causes of death.
It provides a common language that allows health professionals to share health information across the globe.
“The ICD is a product that WHO is truly proud of,” says Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
“It enables us to understand so much about what makes people get sick and die, and to take action to prevent suffering and save lives.”
