Many of the people in Golden Valley have likely heard of the numerous former NFL players who have filed suit against the football league, alleging that it hid the impact that concussions and blows to the head would have on their long-term mental health. While much of the focus is on depression, dementia and suicide, it seems there may be another factor worth considering — sexual inhibitions.
There has been some research into whether or not brain injuries have any correlation to pedophilic behavior and the results are surprising. The 2003 study looked at 685 men, some of which had pedophilia, and there was a larger number of men who had previously experienced some kind of head trauma who exhibited pedophilic behavior than those who did not exhibit such behavior. The head injuries certainly did not cause the pedophilia, but it likely played a role in lowering an individual’s inhibitions to pedophilic behaviors.
It is undeniable that the football players who are suing the NFL are concerned about brain injuries and rightfully so. Twenty of the football players who reported mental health issues were diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy during their autopsies. This is a severe brain injury that has been linked with serious depression, dementia and abnormal behavior. As more research is done on the link between depression and sexual activity, however, there may be an increased concern that people who have suffered traumatic brain injuries could find themselves unable to control or reign in their sexual desires.
Source: The Atlantic, “Football and the Sexual Side Effects of Head Trauma,” Alice Dreger, July 24, 2012
