Congressman Weiner can't explain his "sexting," but what do psychologists say?

(CBS) Why would Congressman Anthony Weiner email lewd photos of himself to women he had never met?

In a tearful press conference on Monday, the disgraced New York representative (D-NY) didn't offer much in the way of an explanation, saying simply, "If you're looking for some kind of deep explanation for this, I don't have one except to say I'm sorry."

What do psychologists have to say about "sexting?"

People sext for a wide variety of reasons, Dr. Susan Lipkin, a clinical psychologist who has conducted research on sexting, told CBS News. Young people, she said, often sext simply as a way to stay in touch with one another - not necessarily the wisest thing, but not pathological. "They grew up in the digital age, and to them sending pictures is just another form of communication," she said.

But in an unpublished 2009 survey involving 323 anonymous volunteers, LIpkin discovered that older people - age 27 and beyond - often sext out of a subconscious desire to show power and dominance.

Lipkins, who maintains a private practice in Port Washington, N.Y., said she had no first-hand knowledge of the reasons Weiner, 46, sent the lewd photos.

"I don't think it's just a personality thing," Dr. Martin Kafla, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, told ABC News. "I always see it as pathology. Usually it's a mistreated psychiatric disorder, not a character disorder."

Dr. Kafka, who has no first-hand knowledge of Weiner's situation, said mood disorders, attention-deficit disorder, and drug and alcohol problems are among the psychiatric disorders that might explain men's "repetitive sex-related impulses."

Ironically, the possibility that someone will be caught sexting can be another lure to the practice.

Speaking of sexting, New York City-based therapist Jonathan Alpert told the New York Daily News, "I see this a lot with high-powered people, usually men, where they're thrill-seekers. Often the risk of being caught heightens the intensity and makes it all the more thrilling."

But actually getting caught? That doesn't seem very thrilling.