Sexual Addiction
We must look at sexual addiction from a clinical aspect. The person who is a sex addict has a compulsion that haunts them. It is like the alcoholic who suffers from closet drinking and then gets caught; the difference is that sex addiction has much more shame around it.
While it makes people more squeamish than talking about a drug or alcohol problem, at its core, sex addiction is just like any other compulsion. According to Sex Addicts Anonymous, “the essence of all addiction is the addicts’ experience of powerlessness over a compulsive behavior, resulting in their lives becoming unmanageable. The addict is out of control and experiences tremendous shame, pain and self-loathing. The addict may wish to stop — yet repeatedly fails to do so.”
Sex addiction can manifest itself in many ways including:
- Extensive viewing of pornography
- Masturbating excessively
- Having affairs or sexual behavior with prostitutes
Sex addiction is estimated to affect three to six percent of adults in the United States, according to the Mayo Clinic, CNN.com reports. It’s hard to accurately track a disorder, though, that the American Psychiatric Association has not even classified in its diagnostic handbook.
The Internet has created an atmosphere where compulsion can be acted out in a private manner so that someone afflicted by the compulsion of masturbating, having live chat, or sending pornographic pictures can be done in isolation. The increased availability of porn and cybersex has facilitated a surge in sexual compulsive behavior cases and the numbers continue to rise. The sex addict who is online also acts out offline. The secrets and fantasy lives of a sex addict stay hidden until they seek help.
“We’re seeing it with epidemic proportions now, particularly with regards to cybersex,” said Mark Schwartz, psychologist and former director of the Masters and Johnson Institute in St. Louis, Mo. “There isn’t a week that goes by where I don’t get two calls” about sex addiction, Schwartz told CNN.com.
Learning a New Lifestyle
In general, a client’s biggest fear is that they will not be able to stop acting out. Learning new behaviors is essential. There are several studies dating back to the early ’70s documenting a neuron-chemical change that takes place in the body during sexual behavior. Patrick Carnes states, “Contrary to enjoying sex as a self-affirming source of physical pleasure, the sex addict has learned to rely on sex for comfort from pain, for nurturing or relief from stress.”
Sex addiction can manifest in a variety of ways, however, through group and individual counseling, a sex addict begins to see the similarities in their manifestations compared to peers dealing with compulsions.
Sexual Addiction Help
Please call our toll free number at (877) 259-5635 if you or someone you know is struggling with a sexual addiction. We are available 24 hours a day to answer your questions about sex addiction treatment.
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