AP answers your questions on the news, from sex addiction treatments to the Toyota recall

Ask AP: Sex addiction, the Toyota recall

Now that sex addiction has found its poster child in Tiger Woods, more people are familiar with the affliction. Yet how it’s treated remains a mystery to many.

Curiosity about just what goes on at a sex addiction clinic inspired one of the questions in this edition of “Ask AP,” a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers’ questions about the news.

If you have your own news-related question that you’d like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with “Ask AP” in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question.

You can also find Ask AP on AP Mobile, a multimedia news service available on Internet-enabled cell phones. Go to www.apnews.com/ to learn more.

Was IceSave, the Iceland-based Internet bank that collapsed in 2008, in any way backed by the home government? Were deposits insured? Will the recent “no” referendum vote to reimburse depositors in England and the Netherlands through new taxes on Icelanders really prevent such taxes from being imposed?

Edward Hamilton

Seymore, Tenn.

All domestic deposits of Icesave, and its parent Landsbanki, were guaranteed under Icelandic law. However, that guarantee did not extend to foreigners with deposits in Icesave. When the bank collapsed (along with most of Iceland’s banking sector), Britain and the Netherlands agreed to loan Iceland the money to compensate savers in their countries. Those depositors lost more than $5 billion.

The recent “no” vote rejects a repayment deal for the loan that had been approved by the Icelandic Parliament, but it doesn’t get Iceland out of repaying Britain and the Netherlands altogether. Iceland has stressed it will live up to its obligations, particularly as it probably won’t receive much-needed money from the International Monetary Fund to fix its broken economy until the matter is resolved.

The next step is for the three countries to return to the negotiating table to find a repayment plan that will be acceptable to opposition parties — and the public — in Iceland. That’s likely to include a lighter interest rate on the repayments, which would ease some of the tax burden on ordinary Icelanders.

Jane Wardell

AP Writer

London

I have noticed several celebrities linked to sex addiction recently, most notably Tiger Woods. For those who enter sex addiction clinics, what sort of treatment do they receive?

Bill Mahl

Peoria, Ill.

Sex addiction treatments resemble those for alcohol or drug addiction. Patients often undergo weeks of inpatient therapy and their aftercare can last several years.

Typically, patients’ days are filled with lectures and group sessions. Patients must dress a certain way, address each other a certain way and, most importantly, can never touch another patient without permission. Cell phones are left at home.

Spouses are encouraged to join some of the therapy because they are considered part of the overall problem.

“These kind of programs are very structured,” Maureen Canning, a clinical consultant for sexual compulsive programs at the Meadows treatment facility in Arizona, told the AP in January. “It’s basically a 12-hour day every day, plus homework.”

Once back home, patients’ lives remain very structured so they don’t have the urge or opportunity for unhealthy sex. Usually that involves having someone around to make sure patients stay out of trouble and keep up with their aftercare.

At Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services in Hattiesburg, Miss., one of the nation’s leading sex addiction clinics, treatment is based on a 12-step program with intense study of such topics as sexual abuse and trauma, addictive relationships and cybersex.

Woods has said he’s undergoing therapy, and though it’s been widely reported that he was treated at Pine Grove, he hasn’t ever acknowledged receiving sex addiction therapy.

The American Psychiatric Association does not list sex addiction as a diagnosable mental disorder, and there are no real statistics on how many people it might affect or the cure rate.

Tim Dahlberg

AP Sports Columnist

Las Vegas

Toyota recently recalled approximately 8 million vehicles. How and where do they fix such a great number of vehicles? Is every one of them getting checked? What’s the estimated cost of the fixes for Toyota?

Fernando Morales

Peoria, Ill.

Toyota has recalled more than 8.5 million vehicles worldwide — more than 6 million in the U.S. — because of floor mats that can trap accelerators, gas pedals that can become stuck and brake problems on its Prius hybrid. As with any recall, the repairs are being conducted at Toyota dealerships, with Toyota covering the cost. Every vehicle covered by the recall will be getting a fix, Toyota says, but the automaker is staggering the repairs over time because the recall is so large.

The automaker has estimated that repairs for the gas pedal recall and lost sales will cost it $2 billion.

Dan Strumpf

AP Auto Writer

New York

Have questions of your own? Send them to newsquestions@ap.org.