The behavior of U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner has brought attention to the issue of sex addiction, although there is no diagnosis of sex addiction in the official listing of mental disorders — the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Psychologists estimate that 3 to 5 percent of people are sexaholics – three times more men than women.

The addiction is both about sex and its ability, like drugs, alcohol or other addictions, to numb psychological pain from other issues in life and mental health problems, addiction specialists say.

Studies of sex addiction patients over the last 20 years have found high rates of childhood trauma, sexual abuse, difficulty forming healthy attachments and struggle with intimacy in real sexual relationships, therapist Stephanie Carnes says.

“People use sex to escape and medicate,” she said. The experience produces the same chemical reaction — a hit of dopamine (in the pleasure center of the brain) — that someone who gambles or eats compulsively will receive.

Carnes said there are many parallels with chemical dependency, including a three- to five-year recovery process. Involvement in group therapy or in an Alcoholics Anonymous-type 12-step program is very important, she said.

Just as not everyone who drinks alcohol is an alcoholic, sex addiction is characterized by out of control compulsive behavior, Carnes says. And it can be more damaging to family life and harder to give up than more typical addictions.