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KMID : 0915820160170010085
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Journal of Korean Alcohol Science
2016 Volume.17 No. 1 p.85 ~ p.99
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Sexuality and Sexual Experiences among Recovering Male Alcoholics
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Kim Sung-Jae
Cha Jin-Gyung
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Abstract
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Objective: One of the important factors that leads to relapse amongst alcoholics is a negative emotional state, and the factors affecting negative emotions include sexual desire or sex life. Although relapse into alcoholism is closely related to sexual experience, few studies have been done on sexuality and sexual experiences among alcoholics in Korea. The purpose of this study was to explore the sexual experiences of recovering male alcoholics and enhance our understanding of this issue in order to develop relapse-prevention strategies.
Methods: The participants included 19 male recovering alcoholics who were diagnosed as alcoholics and maintained sobriety for more than 6 months after treatment. This work includes a secondary analysis of focus group interviews conducted on 17 participants published in “A Study on Sex Education Requirements of Recovering Alcoholics.” This study added two in?depth interviews of key informants to the qualitative data. Thematic content analysis methods were used.
Results: Our results revealed that sexuality and the sexual experiences of recovering alcoholics could be divided into 4 categories: “distorted sexuality,” “wounded sexuality,” “addiction-aggravating sexuality,” and “recovering sexuality.” We found that distorted ideas of sexuality and psychological wounds related to sexual experiences affected alcohol dependency in the patients. Sexual dysfunction that males experience during the recovery process interacts with the desire for intimacy, triggers the impulse to drink, and aggravates addiction. On the other hand, participants in longer-term recovery experienced a perceptual change regarding sexuality. They came to perceive sexual behaviors and sexual life as emotional sharing and an expression of friendliness, whereas sexuality had previously been viewed as a symbolic expression of power and a method of pursuing pleasure.
Conclusion: In this study, we examined sexuality and intimacy issues that recovering male alcoholics face, and explored the positive and negative effects of various sex-related behaviors on recovery. Our results can be used as basic material for the education of professionals in the addiction field and in developing intervention programs to encourage recovering male alcoholics to develop healthy sex lives.
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KEYWORD
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alcoholics, sexuality, sexual experience, recovering, qualitative research
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