Between Tiger Woods and ex–New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, the dysfunctional sexual appetites of men have been getting a lot of media play recently. But whereas the golfer and the governor stepped out on their wives with numerous partners, some sex addicts' predilections involve no other partners.

Just ask Cory Schortzman is a self-described recovering "sexual anorexic" who now runs a counseling center in Colorado for sex addictions and who recently shared his experiences on a TLC episode of the series "Strange Sex."

According to SexHelp.com, created by leading sex-addiction expert Dr. Patrick Carnes, sexual anorexia is an obsessive state in which the physical, mental and emotional task of avoiding sex dominates one's life. Whether they eliminate sexuality altogether or develop addictions to pornography or masturbation, sexual anorexics by definition avoid intimacy.

For Schortzman that meant opting to retreat (without the aid of porn) into a masturbatory dream world -- instead of having sex with his wife.

"I hit bottom," says Schortzman. "I was acting out masturbation fantasies ... my addiction was really a secret. I could objectify anything, anyone, [at] anytime."

While he never physically cheated on his wife, Kerry, Schortzman says he denied her both sexually and emotionally.

"Some of my core beliefs were like, women hurt men, women can't be trusted, if she knew me she really wouldn't love me," he says. "Dr. [Douglas] Weiss has a great metaphor for this, called 'Starve the Dog. My wife is the dog, and I'm not going to feed her, I'm not going to love her. She's going to bark or ask or beg for love, and then I'm going to punish her, because she barked or begged for love."

Six years ago, at his low point, Schortzman confronted his wife, who had been left exasperated by his withdrawal. While difficult, he says the experience led him to seek professional treatment and saved his marriage.

Since then Schortzman has become a board-certified counselor, written several books on sex addiction and has appeared with his wife on ABC News. He says between 28 and 30 percent of the general public is afflicted by some kind of sexual addiction, although most of the men he treats refuse to label it as such.

And perhaps partly because sexual anorexia isn't as salacious a topic as sexual compulsiveness, there are no clear statistics on how many of those men and others may be suffering from it. Treatment for both problems is similar, however.

"It's never really about the addiction. The addiction is about unmet needs," explains Schortzman. "It's just your poison you've chose to medicate that wounded-ness [with]."