For a few different reasons, society has always had problems in admitting that what for want of a better description i’ll call ‘pro-sex’ sexual dysfunction in men exists, and if it does, its clearly not a problem at all.
Society has no such qualms about calling sex-addicted women sick, which interestingly enough was the first step towards legitimizing the concept of sex-addiction at all, just sadly the other side of the equation hasn’t arrived yet.
Mainly that’d be because most of the doctors involved with finding new disorders were (back in Freuds time) middle aged men, who grew up in a very anti-sex culture and so it was obvious to them that overly-active women had something disastrously wrong with them. By contrast, they understood what it was like to be a young man all too well, and pretty much figured that writing about men having sex a lot wasn’t going to get you famous.
Luckily, we live in marginally more enlightened times. We have a firmer grasp on what addiction is, and we understand better that any compulsion beyond your conscious control absolutely is a problem. That won’t change the social ideas of slut vs stud, but at least going to a doctor and saying ‘I can’t stop myself’ will likely get you help.
People do still say that sex-addiction isn’t a thing, mainly because of the perception that talking someone into bed takes a certain je ne sais qua that buying drugs or gambling doesn’t have. But considering that you can buy sex too, and in the age of freely available contraception and cheap booze, plenty enough people give it away for free, that doesn’t really hold water.
Even outside of that, what my countrymen would call ‘chatting someone up’ is a learned skill, and addicts are amazingly good at learning how to get their fix. Gamblers know the odds on every game in the house, drug users learn how to inject into every vein in their body, and sex addicts know what buttons to push to make someone want no strings attached sex with you. Or failing that, just sex. Assuming you don’t really care about hurting peoples feelings (ie you are compelled to seek sex regardless of them) then yeah. Same deal.
My thoughts go out to our friend. I hope he finds some way to cope eventually. It’s a tough thing to deal with. Harder than most other addictions because sympathy is extremely thin on the ground for the condition as a whole, and also because it is extremely difficult to have ‘normal’ relationships even if you do conquer the behavior. Abstinence from alcohol, once you break an addiction, is tough, but with some behavior changes is possible. It’s a different deal to be abstinent from sex while maintaining a marriage.