"Sexual anorexia" is a term that was made popular by sex
addiction expert Dr. Patrick Carnes. Carnes used the term to
describe the compulsive avoidance of sex and sex-related
matters, although he was not the first to write on the subject
or to use the term. It may surprise you to learn that Carnes
presents sexual anorexia as a form of sex addiction in his book,
Sexual Anorexia: Overcoming Sexual Self-Hatred. According to
Carnes, the word anorexia means without appetite (anorexia being
derived from the Greek word, orexis). So sexual anorexia refers
to a lack of sexual appetite. What makes it a form of addiction
is the compulsive avoidance of sex that sexual anorexics build
their lives around. They do this in a variety of ways, which can
include: - Persistent fear of intimacy, sexual contact, sexual
pleasure, sexually transmitted diseases, etc. - Preoccupation,
to the point of obsession, with sexual matters, including the
sexuality, sexual intentions, and sexual behaviors of others,
and their own sexual adequac