Sex addicts must be honest about wants

The addiction label can be comforting when a cheater gets caught out, but couples need to get real, Dr Raj Persaud says

- BY DR RAJ PERSAUD, CONSULTANT PSYCHIATRIST

Dame Natalie Massenet, founder of luxury fashion website Net-a-Porter, is suing her ex Erik Torstensson over the breakdown of their 14-year relationship. What's made this a particularly juicy story are claims in her US lawsuit that he is a “sex addict”.

Normally, the sex addict line is rolled out to excuse rampant infidelity - claiming they suffer sex addiction, so cannot help themselves.

But what is sex addiction and does it really exist as a condition?

Hollywood star Michael Douglas is often referred to as patient zero.

He “came out” as a sex addict decades ago, before anyone was talking about it.

The “illness” is also back in the headlines because of disgraced Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged appetite for sex with different women several times a day, and claims he may have supplied women to other high-profile “sex addicts”.