MYTHS

Compulsive sexual behavior is an “addiction”. While "sexual addiction” is an accepted term, there is very little about compulsive sexual behavior that is similar to the destructive overuse and dependence upon chemicals that are toxic to the body. The new DSM criteria for abuse and dependence are designed to characterize "substance" (drug, chemical) pathologies, so sex cannot by definition fit these criteria. A better term (perhaps more easily covered by insurance?) is "compulsive sexual behavior".

Compulsive gambling is an “addiction”. Let's be careful what we call things! As with compulsive sexual behavior, gambling has very little in common with drugs that produce dependence. Is there any value in calling compulsive gambling an “addiction”?
Isn’t it less stigmatizing to label it “pathological gambling”, as described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual?

Withdrawal = “addiction”. Many people erroneously think that if a person goes through withdrawal after a long period of drug use, they are “addicted”. What about cocaine, which produces little observable withdrawal? When a person goes through withdrawal from morphine after several weeks’ treatment with the drug, does that mean they are “addicted” for life? Remember that withdrawal is only one of seven criteria for dependence (“addiction”) and a person must have three of the criteria to be diagnosed as dependent.