Some people are trying to make others believe that sex is the dirty little secret of the human race and only to be performed for procreation purposes between a man and a woman – most likely in the missionary position.

To paraphrase Gordon Gekko, the stockbroker portrayed by Michael Douglas in the film Wall Street: Sex is good.

Despite all the moral aggrandizing, people are having more sex—and better sex—than at any other time in known history. There is a whole universe of items—toys, lotions, clothes, videos, books—designed to heighten and intensify sexual activities. Society is becoming more and more accepting of sex as a part of life, not as something that will make you grow warts or make your feet fall off.

For the staggering majority of people, sex is an enhancement to their day-to-day life: whether it is masturbating to a favorite porno or fantasy, getting lucky and going home with a cutie from a bar or club or having a passionate night of wine and whipped cream with a long-time spouse or partner.

For a small percentage of people, however, sex is something that can’t be controlled; they are clinically addicted to sex.

Anything that causes pleasure can be taken to extremes. We all know or heard of someone who can’t handle their booze and other substances. Society has even legitimized these problems to a degree. There is a large billboard in Philadelphia that towers over one of the main highways. This billboard offers you the suggestion that you probably have a drinking problem and gives you a number to call in case you agree. We all know the clichés about Alcoholics Anonymous and even joke about them.

Addiction is familiar to nearly everyone in the United States. A study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that 71 million people in this country use tobacco in one form or another. Some estimates put the number of alcohol-dependent people in this country as high as 20 million people, which is nearly one out of ten.

Sex addiction is classified by psychologists as an addictive disorder, similar to alcoholism and other addictive substances. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders—the leading authority on psychiatric and psychological disorders—a person needs to meet three of the following five criteria to be considered addicted or dependent on something, be it sex or alcohol:

1. Tolerance—increased use for the same effect
2. Withdrawal
3. Large quantities over a long period.
4. Neglecting social, occupational or recreational activities to pursue addiction
5. Continued use despite negative consequences

The surprising thing about sex addiction is that according to the DSM-IV, the addict is not addicted to sex, but rather to the behaviors leading to sex—the planning, the scheming, the hiding. People who are clinically addicted to sex are after the lust and not the sex act itself.

Sex addiction manifests itself in a variety of ways. Men usually practice sexual behavior that involves little or no emotional attachment, i.e. watching pornography, hiring sex workers, excessive masturbation; female sex addicts tend to gravitate towards behaviors that deal with power or control, such as fantasy sex, role playing and sado-masochism. The number of addicted men tends to be just a little higher, but it is generally an affliction that equivocally affects both genders. Similarly, there are about equal heterosexual sex addicts as there are homosexual sex addicts.

When a person is addicted to sex, it becomes the focus of their life and nothing can distract them from their obsession, often with dire consequences. People who have been dubbed addicted to sex often develop severe problems, including sexually transmitted diseases, financial losses, loss of time because of their preoccupation with sex and the destruction of relationships with loved ones.

Sex addiction is also classified as a progressive disease, which means that without treatment or help it will only get worse. The problem with addiction is that it doesn’t appear out of the blue. It has a gradual onset, creeping up on someone over a span of years. The lack of physical symptoms makes it difficult to detect. And because addiction is a self-diagnosed disease—it has to be acknowledged by the victim before it can be treated—it can often go years or decades before treatment begins.

The causes of sex addiction are not known, but believed to be a combination of environment and predisposition. “I don’t think there is a way to pinpoint a reason why someone ends up as a sex addict,” said Bob Stenander of the Illinois Institue for Addiction Recovery. “I also don’t think it matters what caused it. I put it like this: whether you believe in creationism or Darwin, you are still sitting here regardless and it’s the same with addiction; it doesn’t matter what the cause, it is what it is. Deal with it and get help.”

There are many places that a person can turn if they feel they need help with sex addiction. Sexaholics Anonymous is the largest support network with thousands of meetings all over the world. SA is a 12-step program, modeled after other 12-step groups like Alcoholics Anonymous. SA provides a group of people with similar experiences who work to heal the physical, emotional and spiritual roots of the problem. Unlike other 12-step programs, however, the ultimate goal of SA is not total abstinence from sex, but a healthy sexual relationship with a committed partner.

Other resources for help in overcoming sex addiction include professional counselors and a more intense treatment program. There are a number of rehabilitation facilities that provide both inpatient and outpatient treatment for sex addiction around the country. Some of these include The Meadows in Arizona, the Sexual Recovery Institute in Los Angeles and the Pride Institute with four facilities around the country, which specializes in working with the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered communities.

A person who goes to a clinic for help with an addiction will typically go through an assessment with a counselor, which takes about an hour. The counselor then recommends a program appropriate to the individual, whether it is an inpatient or outpatient program, and usually a subsequent after-care program to help the person smoothly transition back into society.

It is important to remember that only a very small minority of the public will ever be considered addicted to sex. It is believed that the total number of sexually addicted people in this country is significantly less than one percent of the total population. In other words, if a person went to Ohio Stadium (capacity 101,000) to see a sold-out Buckeyes-Wolverines game, there would be about five to six people in the stands addicted to sex.

With that in mind, there’s no need to be paranoid the next time you’re in the mood to drop your pants and get it on.