I went to the theatre
already pretty cynical about big-screen depictions of hypersexuality (my
preferred term for the phenomenon). On the one hand, I've seen very many people
in my clinic seeking help in controlling some aspect of their sex life. On the
other hand, I have read very many commentaries about what hypersexuality means, usually
based on hypotheticals or tid-bits from celebrity cases. None of those
discussions, however, ever seem to describe the actual people I see.
So, popcorn in hand, I was
expecting a re-telling of a daytime, self-help cliché: abuse in childhood,
causing addiction in adulthood, hitting rock bottom, resolved by confronting
past abuse. (Probably followed by falling in love for the first time,
after finally completing some period of sexual abstinence.) Instead, I
saw situations very close to what I do see in therapy.
