An ICD-11 impulse-control disorder involving a persistent failure to control intense, repetitive sexual impulses or urges, resulting in repetitive behaviour and marked distress or significant impairment over an extended period.
Sources and evidence type
Manual claim and limitation notes are shown where an individual source audit is complete. Other evidence-type labels are a publisher aid awaiting source-by-source confirmation.
WHO: ICD-11 clinical descriptions and requirementsClinical guideline
Source design
Current public-health or clinical guidance
What it can support
Service pathways, health definitions and recommended public-health or clinical actions within its stated scope.
Important limitation
General guidance cannot assess an individual’s symptoms, exposure, medicine, contraindications or urgency.
The specific population, measures and findings reported by the paper.
Important limitation
It cannot automatically establish UK prevalence, causation, diagnosis, consent or an individual outcome. Check recruitment, definitions and study design.
The specific population, measures and findings reported by the paper.
Important limitation
It cannot automatically establish UK prevalence, causation, diagnosis, consent or an individual outcome. Check recruitment, definitions and study design.
EDITORIAL ILLUSTRATIONCompulsive sexual behaviour disorder
Clinical literacy
Illustration created using generative AI; not documentary evidence.
In brief
Persistent impaired control and significant impact—not high desire or moral conflict alone.
CSBD is not diagnosed from high libido, frequent sex, masturbation, pornography use, kink, infidelity or moral discomfort alone. The core is persistent impaired control, such as repeated unsuccessful attempts to reduce behaviour, neglect of responsibilities, continuation despite adverse consequences or continuation with little satisfaction, usually for six months or more.
Required pattern
ICD-11 describes a persistent failure to control repetitive impulses or urges leading to behaviour that becomes central, resists repeated reduction attempts, continues despite consequences or yields little satisfaction.
The pattern occurs over an extended period and produces marked distress or significant impairment in important functioning.
Status
Detailed editorial draft
Publisher
The UK Kink Guide
Reviewed
Structured draft present; individual review date not recorded
Evidence
3 cited sources · types labelled below
Jurisdiction
UK-focused general education
Read the rest: evidence, law, safety and sources
CSBD
The ICD-11 impulse-control diagnosis based on persistent impaired control and significant impact.
High libido
Frequent or intense sexual interest without the required impaired control and distress or impairment.
Moral incongruence
Conflict between behaviour and personal or religious values; distress from this alone is insufficient for CSBD.
Sex addiction
A popular and contested framework that is not automatically equivalent to the ICD-11 diagnosis.
Boundaries with normality
High sexual interest or activity without impaired control and significant impact should not be diagnosed. Frequency thresholds alone are specifically inadequate.
Distress entirely due to moral judgement or others' disapproval does not satisfy the diagnostic requirement, though that distress may still deserve compassionate support.
Differential assessment
A clinician considers mood episodes, neurological or medical conditions, medicines and substances that may better explain disinhibition. They also assess trauma, mental health, sexual function and relationship context.
CSBD is not a label for consensual non-monogamy, kink or a partner's objection to ordinary desire. Harmful or illegal behaviour must be addressed directly rather than explained away by diagnosis.
Care and accountability
Treatment is individual and may involve psychological approaches, management of co-occurring conditions and selected specialist medicine. Evidence and service availability vary.
Recovery goals focus on control, wellbeing, safety and chosen values rather than compulsory abstinence from all sexuality. A diagnosis never removes responsibility for consent or harm.
Non-graphic examples
What the umbrella may include
Repeatedly failing to reduce a behaviour despite serious consequences.
Having high libido with intact control and no impairment.
Feeling moral guilt without evidence of impaired control.
Reviewing a possible manic episode before diagnosis.
Seeking specialist help while remaining accountable for consent.
Prepare for an appointment
Questions you could ask a professional
Which diagnostic criteria are relevant—and which are not?
Is distress intrinsic, caused by stigma, or both?
How are consent, risk and impairment being assessed?
What evidence supports the proposed approach?
These prompts do not replace assessment and do not imply that every reader needs professional care.
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Take the next step from definition to context.
Continue with independent guidance connecting compulsive sexual behaviour disorder to evidence, consent, safety, uncertainty and practical decisions.
The UK Kink GuideEvidence-led glossary