Not Quite Enough Sympathy To Go Around For The Sex AddictSSince David Duchovny announced that he was receiving treatment for sex addiction, several articles have been written about this mysterious malady, most recently in the New York Times Sunday Styles. The article is called "No Sympathy for the Sex Addict," and it describes sexual addiction as "the new straw man available for theatrical ridicule: the sex addict." Writer Allen Salken wonders why there is so little regard for the sex addict, whose affliction is defined as "any sexually related, compulsive behavior which interferes with normal living and causes severe stress on family, friends, loved ones and one's work environment." I have a theory! Our sympathy nerve has been overloaded.We're on the brink of a truly pivotal national election; devastating hurricanes rise up in the Caribbean each passing day; people are dying in Iraq; women are going missing, the center is not holding, people. And we're supposed to muster up that last bit of sympathy for yet another (I'm sure painful and unfortunate!) disorder? Especially when those who suffer from said disorder, according to an article in Newsweek, "feel like the world revolves around them"? And in addition, a therapist who specializes in treating sex addicts says, "There's a lot of narcissism and arrogance with people like this." I try to be an incredibly sympathetic person to other people's plights. But in this big wide world, people who fuck too much are pretty low on my list of those to expend mental energy feeling bad for, hovering just above the pampered brats from Exiled who are forced to clean up elephant dung. No Sympathy For The Sex Addict [NYT] Another Kind of Addict [Newsweek] Earlier: David Duchovny Needs Sexual Healing