And if a man suffers from a similar disorder, it is also called nymphomania? This and other facts that not everyone knows about women addicted to sex.
1. Only women can be nymphomaniacs. When a man has a similar disorder, it is called satyriasis, a term that is not well known because studies on the amount of sex a person should have focus more on women.
2. Currently these disorders are not diagnosed as nymphomania or satyriasis, but as hypersexuality. However, they are still used in the International Classification of Diseases.
3. Formerly nymphomania was “cured” with drastic methods such as removal of the clitoris and ovaries. They also prescribed for women to bathe in ice water and sleep excessively.
4. In the 19th century it was believed that eating chocolate and reading were two of the main reasons why a woman could become a nymphomaniac.
5. Scientists have found a close relationship between hypersexuality and dementia. Likewise, they investigate the link between bipolarity and sex addiction.
6. Nymphomania has served many times, since the law, as an excuse (valid proof) for lawyers to defend rapists and be released.
7. Two hundred years ago, phrenologists (people who relied on the ancient theory that personality traits and criminal tendencies could be determined from the shape of the skull, head, and features) believed that women who had the larger heads possessed greater sexual desire.
8. The American therapist and writer Kelly McDaniel assures that hypersexual women enjoy sex less, because having it in large quantities makes it a common activity like brushing their teeth.
9. That a woman enjoys sex a lot does not mean that she is nymphomaniac (that is, that she suffers from hypersexuality). It starts to be a problem when she stops having sex in a functional way and turns it into an obsession that affects daily activities and sleep.
10. Some theories suggest that women who have been raped at some point in their lives are more likely to become nymphomaniacs, because they try to regain the power of their sexuality with sex.
