Has Anything Changed In What We Know About Satyriasis From Its Original Identification Of The ...

201 Pages·2012·0.8 MB·English

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF CLINICAL SEXOLOGISTS

HAS ANYTHING CHANGED IN WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT SATYRIASIS
FROM ITS ORIGINAL IDENTIFICATION OF THE DISORDER?

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO
THE FACULTY OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF CLINICAL SEXOLOGISTS
IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN CLINICAL SEXOLOGY
BY
JOE KORT
ORLANDO, FLORIDA
DECEMBER, 2009
For my partner, Mike Cramer
Who helps me to dream and make my dreams come true!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To my friend and colleague, Tammy Nelson, who encouraged me to become a sexologist and
guided me in the right direction.

To my business coach, Lynn Grodzki, for helping me become clear on this topic and my work
with clients.

To Dr. William Granzig who helped me choose this topic and open my mind to alternatives to
helping people with hypersexuality and out-of-control sexual behavior.

To Dr. Rhonda Fine who helped me refine my outline and include sources and resources for this
paper.

My gratitude to the American Academy of Clinical Sexology program and its faculty who taught
me about healthy sexuality.

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ABSTRACT
This study explores the question, “Has anything changed in what we know about
satyriasis from its original identification of the disorder?” This question arose around whether
anything new has been discovered or used in the treatment of satyriasis.
From the original writings it is found that those with hypersexual behaviors risk legal
consequences as well as losing their reputation and social graces. Krafft-Ebing was the first to
write about this saying that, “This pathological sexuality is a dreadful scourge for its victim, for
he is in constant danger of violating the laws of the state and of morality, of losing his honor, his
freedom and even his life” (Krafft-Ebing 1965). This is still what seen today in the literature for
those suffering from hypersexuality.
Since the first reports in the psychological and sexological literature there continues to be
an absence of scientific evidence explaining how or why people become afflicted with
hypersexuality. Many anecdotal theories exist about the etiology and treatment of hypersexuality
with each agreeing that the sexual acting out involves managing anxiety and becomes out-of-
control to the person suffering with the problem. However, after it is identified and treated there
is controversy around what healthy sexuality is for the client. It is often based on the therapists
bias and judgments and not the clients. The findings of this study may be used for therapists in
both the fields of sexual addiction and sexology to explore possibilities in developing one or
more healthy recovery models after the sexual behavior is not longer out-of-control.
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CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... iv
PROBLEM STATEMENT ............................................................................................................. 1
PURPOSE OF STUDY................................................................................................................... 2
HYPOTHESIS ................................................................................................................................ 3
CHAPTER 1: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................................................................................. 4
History......................................................................................................................................... 4
Terminology ................................................................................................................................ 5
Incidence and Prevalence of Satyriasis ....................................................................................... 9
Etiology ....................................................................................................................................... 9
Psychodynamic ..................................................................................................................... 12
Trauma Model ....................................................................................................................... 13
Hypervigalence and Hyperarousal ........................................................................................ 17
Dissociation........................................................................................................................... 18
Sexual Abuse ........................................................................................................................ 18
Covert Cultural Sexual Abuse of Gay Men .......................................................................... 20
Cultural Influences .................................................................................................................... 26
Differential Diagnosis ............................................................................................................... 30
Paraphilia .............................................................................................................................. 31
Stage Five of Coming Out Gay ............................................................................................. 34
Axis I Disorders .................................................................................................................... 35
Personality Disorder (Axis II) ............................................................................................... 35
Attachment Disorders .......................................................................................................... 36
Treatment Models ..................................................................................................................... 38
Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity ..................................................................................... 38
Carnes’ Anatomy of Sexual Addiction ................................................................................. 39
Sexual Addiction Inventory .................................................................................................. 40
Criticisms of Sexual Addiction Model ................................................................................. 43
Compulsive sexual behavior (CSB) ...................................................................................... 49
Criticism of the Sexually Compulsive Model ....................................................................... 52
Sexual Impulse Control Disorder.......................................................................................... 53
Paraphilia-Related Disorders ................................................................................................ 54
Dual-Control Model .............................................................................................................. 55
Treatment for Hypersexuality over the years............................................................................ 56
CHAPTER 2: CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS ......................... 63
Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 63
Implications............................................................................................................................... 64
Recommendations ..................................................................................................................... 69
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................... 74
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PROBLEM STATEMENT
There is an absence of a healthy recovery model within the field of sexual addiction and
compulsivity. The absence of evidence based treatment leaves the field dependent on antidotal
thoughts and clinical impressions.
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PURPOSE OF STUDY
This paper is based on a retrospective consideration of hypersexual behavior over the
years starting with its original name Satyriasis. The focus of this paper is confined to nonviolent
and non-offending hypersexual behaviors and hence does not include information about sexual
offenders and legal matters related to such.
The purpose of this study was to explore the etiology, treatment and recovery process of
those with hypersexuality since it was first labeled satyriasis. This study will add to the literature
in developing a treatment plan which can be generalized and use with individuals suffering with
hypersexuality.

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HYPOTHESIS
Is the treatment for satyriasis more effective today than historically?

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CHAPTER 1
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
History
The origin of the word satyriasis comes from the Greek mythological word satyr which
were spirits consisting of half-man, half beast (Encyclopedia Britannica 1937) In the Oxford
Classical Dictionary (2nd Edition) a satyr is defined as, “’spirits of wild life in woods and hills’,
bestial in their desires and behavior, and having details of animal nature, either of a horse or of a
goat.” Satyrs historically were young and were half human half goat and later had elements of
human and some details of a horse (Hammand and Scullard 1970). The Oxford English
Dictionary in 1989 2nd Edition defines satyr as part of a myth in which he is “one of a class of
woodland gods or demons, in form partly human and partly bestial……”
The word satyr itself is Greek for membrum virile or penis as the mythical creatures were
prone to lust (Wahl 1967).
Reportedly satyriasis has been present in every society since the sexology of man was
first recorded (Kilousky 1967) The satyr was assessed as man who would ejaculate at every
sexual contact without full gratification causing him to endlessly seek as many women or even
young boys as could be acquired in a single day (Kilousky 1967) There are tales about the satyr
even from the early Arab superstition writings (Kilousky 1967; Encyclopedia Britannica 1937).
“The original satyr was a sylvan Greek deity who served Bacus, the god of drunken
revelry” according to Klaf who found that Krafft-Ebing described one of his therapy cases as ‘on
the verge of alcoholic insanity’ with the client’s hypersexual behaviors (Klaf 1966).
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During Roman times, heterosexual excess was “something to be proud of” according to
Klaf as he reflected on historic cultures (Klaf 1966). “Divorces were easily obtainable, adultery
was not listed as a criminal offense, and sadistic pleasures were practiced as a group activity in
public places like the Coliseum, or in the privacy of baths” (Klaf 1966).
The word Satyriasis became used to illustrate that hypersexual men were acting like
satyrs.
Terminology
Many terms have been used to describe the phenomenon of excessive sexual behavior,
including compulsive sexual behavior, sexual addiction, hypersexuality, pseudohypersexuality,
erotomania, promiscuity, nymphomania, satyriasis, Don Juanism, paraphilia, sexual dependence,
sexual deviance, hypereroticism, hyperlibido, hyperphilia, hyperaesthesia, perversion, and
atypical impulse control disorder. Many of these concepts overlap, some are no longer popular,
and some are used interchangeably (Giugliano 2004). Giugliano believes that of all these terms,
sexual compulsivity, sexual addiction and sexual impulsivity are the main categories and admits
that these explanations of out-of-control sexual behavior “still remain hypotheses and have not
yet been established as testable models” (Giugliano 2008).
The word satyriasis can only be found in brief references in the older sexological
literature. The Oxford English Dictionary 2nd Edition states that it was first used in the
psychological community as a synonym for Priapism in 1897 in the Manual of Psychiatric
Medicine. Priapism is a disorder in which a man experiences a painful erection for hours and it
was thought to be one of the reasons a man might express hypersexuality.
The first time out-of-control sexual behavior appeared in psychosexual literature appears
to be in the work of Krafft-Ebing’s Psychopathia Sexualis (1965, 1st ed. 1886) which was a
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