Understanding Human Rights, Sex Worker Rights and Discrimination in the South African Context. Transgender female sex workers are a vulnerable key population, specifically in relation to sexual health, intimacy, gender identity and gender based violence. Discrimination and stigma impacts this group of women, with limited access for health and human rights benefits, on the one hand, and providing a sensitive and safe space for transgender female sex workers to express themselves on the other.

1. Welcome
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2. Behavioural Addictions

3. Behavioural or Process addiction
 Behaviour that produces a short-term reward, that may bring about
persistent similar behaviour
 Behaviour that continues despite diminished control over ‘normal
life’ functioning
 Addiction to behaviour that produces certain mood-altering feelings
 Internet and social media addiction, eating disorders, sexual
addiction, overwork, shopping, gambling and computer/video game
playing

4. Features of Behavioural Addiction
 The essential feature of behavioural addictions is the failure to resist
an impulse, drive, or temptation to perform an act that is harmful to
the person or to others
 Each behavioural addiction is characterized by a recurrent pattern of
behaviour and craving that can resemble substance use disorders
 DSM-V (2012) new category of Addiction and Related Disorders
encompasses both substance use disorders and non-substance
addictions
 Clinical similarities are noted with impulse control disorders, or
disorders characterized by impulsivity
 These behaviours often decrease anxiety and result in a positive
mood state or “high”, similar to substance intoxication.

5. Internet and Social Media

6. Internet and Social Media

7. Eating Disorders
 Eating disorders, such as anorexia, bulimia nervosa, binge eating
and overeating disorders
 1 in 5 women have substantially disordered attitudes toward eating
and eating behaviours. More than 70 million individuals worldwide
are affected by eating disorders (www.ndsu.edu – The Alliance for
eating disorders awareness)

8. Sex Addiction
 Many people with compulsive sexual behaviour, and report a
decrease in these positive mood effects with repeated behaviour
 This escalates the need to increase the intensity of behaviour to
achieve the same mood effect, analogous to tolerance

9. Clinical Pathology
 Clinical studies suggest that an underlying biological
mechanism for urge-driven disorders may involve the
processing of incoming reward input by the ventral
tegmental area/nucleus and orbital frontal cortex circuit
 The ventral tegmental area contains neurons that
release dopamine to the nucleus accumbens and orbital
frontal cortex
 Alterations in dopaminergic pathways have been
proposed as underlying the seeking of rewards
(gambling, eating, porn, drugs) that trigger the release of
dopamine and produce feelings of pleasure

10. Clinical Pathology

11. Gambling Addiction
 A Harvard study found that an estimated 15.4 million
Americans suffered from a gambling addiction. More
than one-half (7.9 million) were adolescents.

12. Compulsive Shopping

13. Treatment
 Cognitive behavioural therapies commonly used to treat substance
use disorders have been successfully used to treat pathological
gambling, compulsive sexual behaviour and compulsive buying
 Psychosocial interventions for behavioural addictions often rely on a
relapse prevention model that encourages abstinence by identifying
patterns of behaviour, avoiding or coping with cravings, and making
lifestyle changes that reinforce healthier behaviours.

14. A presentation by Gayle Bowey

15. Thank you
To view material from this talk visit
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