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Commentary to the article “Compulsive sexual behavior and paraphilic interests in adults with chronic tic disorders and Tourette syndrome: a survey-based study”

International Journal of Impotence Research (2024)Cite this article

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In the recently published article by Kurvits et al. [1] the authors present results of their study exploring for the first time in more methodologically sound manner the topic of compulsive sexual behaviors (CSB) and paraphilic interests (PI) in adults with chronic tic disorders and Tourette syndrome. It is not the clinical phenomenon that we frequently observe in patients with tics disorders in the clinic so the negative findings of the study are not surprising. Nevertheless, it is worth acknowledging the novelty and importance of the research question raised by the group of international experts in tic disorders. Even more so, since early on there has been a discussion that both CSB and PI are encountered more commonly in patients with tics than in general population [2]. Previous scope of the literature on this topic is widely discussed by the authors in the introduction. This was also the starting point for development of larger study as preceding reports were either limited by small sample size [3, 4] or used out-dated methodology [5, 6]. This certainly supports the reconduction of such study, especially using more up-to-date approach.

There are several interesting mechanisms that have been suggested risk factors for CSB and PI such as the presence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) [5], while the use of neuroleptics has been speculated to have a protective or therapeutical effect [7]. While no effect of neuroleptics on prevalence of CSB and PI was found in this study, the authors identified an association between self-reported severity of ADHD and the presence of CSB and PI.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinic of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Hanover, Germany

    Natalia Szejko

  2. Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

    Natalia Szejko

  3. Department of Bioethics, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

    Natalia Szejko

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Health Sciences Faculty, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

    Anna Dunalska

  5. Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

    Kamila Saramak

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  1. Natalia Szejko
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  2. Anna Dunalska
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  3. Kamila Saramak
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Contributions

Preparation of the original manuscript: NSZ. Revisions and corrections: NSZ, AD, KS. Collection of references: AD, KS.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Natalia Szejko.

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Competing interests

NSZ was supported by the grants of the American Academy of Neurology, Tourette Association of America, American Brain Foundation, Polish Ministry of Health, Medical University of Warsaw and the Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research & Education. AD and KS report no conflicts of interest.

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Szejko, N., Dunalska, A. & Saramak, K. Commentary to the article “Compulsive sexual behavior and paraphilic interests in adults with chronic tic disorders and Tourette syndrome: a survey-based study”. Int J Impot Res (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-024-00957-9

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