The Most Misunderstood Addiction: Sex Addiction

Sex addiction is a mystery to most people. The public doesn’t think of sex as being in the same category as drugs, but in many ways it is.

And when someone becomes addicted to sex, just as when they can become addicted to drugs, they lose control over their behaviour. They continue to compulsively seek sex despite any negative consequences.

Not only this but with a sex addiction they usually will feel very badly afterwards. This can include feelings of guilt, low self worth, shame, and regret. But that doesn’t stop them from indulging in the behaviour again, the first chance they get.

Sex addiction can involved the compulsive need to have multiple sex partners – even when the person seems to be happily married. This might be as the result of casual meetings, or it may involve prostitutes.

The addict may well be able to hide their sex addiction from their family for a considerable time. But as with most addictive behaviours, this one usually catches up with them eventually.

Sex addiction can also involve the use of pornography – again unrelated to whether the person seems to have a healthy sexual relationship with a partner or not. When you add the Internet into the mix, this addiction can take up much of the addict’s waking hours.

The cause of sex addiction is not always easy to pinpoint, which is much the same as with other addictions. Usually there are issues of self esteem involved. And some sex addicts have childhood trauma as part of their story.

So how is sex addiction treated? Again, not that differently from drug addiction. While there is no period of detox in the usual sense of the word, the person must begin their recovery with abstinence from their destructive sexual behaviours.

An in-patient treatment facility might be the best option for the addict. There they will receive individual counselling and group therapy. They will also learn what sex addiction is all about and how it has affected them.

With this knowledge and support, the addict can begin to recover.