Quote:
Originally Posted by AKA_Monet
Having illicit sex with multiple sex partners not only increases one's HIV and STI risk, it also misaligns the neural pathways in the brain. Sex is just as addictive as heroin, crack cocaine and ecstasy...So in someways, illicit sex with multiple partners has to addressed from an addiction medicine/mental healthcare perspective...
|
The med student had to come out for this one! AKA_Monet is right... childhood trauma may affect brain function and size of certain areas of the brain-- particularly those that affect memory (e.g., hippocampus) and emotional reactivity (amygdala). The clearest associations have been made with physical and sexual abuse.
My point is that the workings of the brain can be altered over time and with trauma to perform differently than the brains of people who did not undergo trauma. Research seems to support the idea that some individuals who
have undergone childhood abuse may have blunted emotional reactivity and memory development, etc. due to the abuse. This may affect sexual behaviors and prompt high-risk behaviors in general.
Those people who engage in sex with multiple partners and with apparent recklessness (but who haven't undergone childhood trauma) may still have neural alterations in response to this behavior. The behavior itself may be considered a form of self-abuse, and perhaps feeds back to the brain in a way that's similar to childhood abuse. Perhaps it even lowers their ability to have a "normal" emotional reaction in subsequent encounters (which is why they can continue to have high-risk sex over and over again).
Interesting idea...
Threaded Mode
