SM: What about characters like Samantha on Sex and the City, she just seems to like sex, but could she be considered an addict?
Pinsky: Samantha absolutely was a sex addict, categorically. In fact, I know a woman who lived with that person who the character was fashioned after, and she became a prostitute and died of cocaine addiction. I was so angry about Sex and the City, because [of] all three of those women, the [Cynthia] Nixon character was the only one that wasn’t sick. The other three were desperately, mentally ill. It was not portrayed or thought of that way when in fact that’s what it was.

SM: Why would Samantha’s behavior be a problem?
Pinsky: Addiction is a fatal disease. Whether it is sex addiction or cocaine addiction or heroin addiction, it is a progressive illness and the consequences get worse with time. It may be a slow progression and it may not progress to fatality. But it always progresses towards fatal. For instance, we look at Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie and people are like ‘oh boy, such childish behavior.’ No, two of those women will be dead within the next five years. We’ve already lost Anna Nicole [Smith] to the same disease.

According to SexHelp.com, research shows some of the repercussions reported by sexual addicts include: loss of partner or spouse (40%), unwanted pregnancies (40%), suicidal obsession (72%), exposure to AIDS and venereal disease (68%), and legal risks from nuisance offenses to rape (58%).

SM: How does someone become a sex addict?
Pinsky: At least 60% of all addictions are accounted for based on genetics alone. You need to see some history of alcoholism or addiction somewhere in the family. The second thing is a history of childhood sexual abuse. So you add a family history of alcoholism or addiction to childhood sexual abuse and you’ve pretty much got your recipe. There are other people that develop sexual addiction as a part of a general addiction.