FAQ regarding Sex Addiction
1. Sex Addiction: What Is This Condition?
Sex addiction occurs when sexual thoughts and compulsions are used to relieve stress and manage emotions in a damaging or destructive way. A sex addict allows sexual compulsions and activity to dominate their thoughts and damage all areas of their life. Without help the person with the sexual addiction can not control their sexual compulsions and behavior for any extended period. Significant time and effort is put into sexual thoughts and activities, and this can include fantasies and sexual binges, usually to the detriment of all other aspects of the life of the addict. This video explains sex addiction in depth Am I a Sex Addict .
2. What Are The Reasons That Sex Addiction Occurs?
The reason for sex addiction will be different for every individual who suffers from this condition, but the main causes include spiritual factors, physical factors, and psychological or emotional factors. With the spiritual factor the addict will try to fill the inner void where god belongs with the addiction to sex instead. The sexual compulsions, thoughts, and activities become a spiritual balm for the addict instead of the true peace that god offers. An individual who is physically addicted to sex is addicted to the endorphin high that this activity causes in the brain, and the flood of enkephlines that occur during fantasy and orgasm. The psychological or emotional addiction is normally caused due to past trauma or abuse, and the feel good feelings that sex arouses replaces the emotional pain and shame. This type of addict will usually discover sex before they discover substances including drugs and alcohol. Some types of sexual addiction can include two or even all three causes, and a specialist in sex addiction can offer the best chance for a complete recovery.
3. Is A Masturbation Addiction Possible?
It is possible to become addicted to masturbation, and the fact is that this is one of the most common sex addictions seen by treatment professionals. Masturbation is typically the first type of sexual activity experienced, and performed on a regular basis. The compulsion to masturbate starts in early adolescence, and continues through puberty for most individuals. During the teen years brain development is rapidly occurring, and for a sex addict the act of masturbation can be impossible to resist even after they have become an adult.
4. Does Sexual Addiction Include Adult Websites For Dating?
Adult dating websites are frequently used by sex addicts, but not everyone who frequents these websites has an addiction to sex. One of the common signs of a sex addiction is a desire for sexual encounters which are anonymous, and the Internet and online world of dating sites have made these encounters much easier to find. Many sex addicts spend hours each day trolling the dating sites looking for the next encounter.
5. Are Women Affected By Sex Addiction?
One of the biggest myths ever created was that only men can be sex addicts. Sexual addiction can strike women just as well as men, and the number of women who are admitting a need for sex addiction treatment is increasing quickly. Women who have a sex addiction will display the same signs as men do, including frequent masturbation, affairs, anonymous sexual encounters, high risk sexual behaviors, significant activity online with dating or swinging websites, and the use of pornography. More than twenty different women recovering from sex addiction have collaborated on a book called She Has a Secret: Understanding Female Sexual Addiction, in an attempt to help women with this problem recognize the need for treatment. Another helpful resource for women who struggle with sex addiction is the Secret Solutions Workbook, which features more than one hundred proven recovery techniques for women. Women with sex addiction issues can recover, and the journey starts with a single telephone counseling session.
6. Is It A Sexual Addiction Or Just A High Sex Drive?
How can you tell if you have a sex addiction or if you simply have a sex drive that is higher than most other people? If you have a high sex drive then you are happy with your sex life and partner, and do not take a sexual refusal as a personal rejection. You understand that your partner may not always be in the mood or that other issues may prevent sexual activity from occurring. If you have a sexual addiction then you will take a refusal as a personal rejection, and will react inappropriately. You may leave and find sex elsewhere to punish your partner, start a big fight, or otherwise react in an extreme way.
7. What Does The Non Addicted Partner Of A Sex Addict Experience?
Living with or being in a relationship with a sex addict can be a very trying and devastating experience. All of the spouses and partners of sex addicts have reported the same feelings and experiences. A feeling of inadequacy is caused because the partner feels like nothing they do is sufficient to keep the addict from straying, and loneliness is a common emotion experienced. The person with the sexual addiction does not open up to their partner or make themselves available emotionally, and this creates strain and distance in the relationship. Often the spouse or partner reports anger, at not having their own needs fulfilled and at the emotional upheaval that the sex addict causes in the home and relationship.
8. Does Porn Have A Role In Sex Addiction?
Pornography can play a large role in sex addiction for many who have this problem, and this activity is commonly combined with masturbation. This combination of activities may be very difficult to break free from, and the porn is used to heighten the fantasy, so that the fantasy world provides relief and satisfaction through adolescence and beyond. This fixation on fantasy images is not healthy, and the addict may replay these fantasies daily in some cases. There is more information on sex addiction and pornography available at this link Porn and Sex Addiction .
9. Does Sex Addiction Prevention Work With Children?
Sex addiction prevention techniques have been shown to be highly successful with children. Most sex addicts describe their father as someone who had a sex addiction, whether this was because of the use of porn, affairs, buying sex from prostitutes, or other reasons. Most of these individuals also stated that they were never given adequate sex information so that they could obtain a balanced perspective on sexual relations and activities. There is a video that can help kids understand the changes that occur in the brain during sex, and this video is called “Good Enough To Wait”. This educational video looks at the effects that pornography can have when used for long term periods, as well as how to achieve sexual satisfaction that lasts and is part of a healthy long term relationship. The video addresses the spiritual principles of sexuality, as well as the physical and emotional aspects of this subject. With the proper education, information, and guidance sex addiction prevention techniques can be highly effective.
10. Is It Possible To Recover Fully From Sex Addiction?
A complete sex addiction recovery can be managed, but there is some time and a lot of effort required on your part and this is especially true during the first year of your recovery. With assistance and guidance it is possible to achieve a full recovery from sex addiction, and you can see all aspects of your life improve tremendously. This recovery will affect your spiritual, sexual, emotional, financial, and personal life in a positive way. Marriages can be strengthened and improved, with a true bond, and you can have a life that is richer and more fulfilling than you ever dreamed was possible. Your recovery will not be easy or pleasant, and you must be dedicated to achieving complete healing, but eliminating a sex addiction is possible.
11. Is Sex Addiction Research Available?
Sexual addiction research can be found, and there have been studies into this type of addiction. Valiant Recovery offers up to date research on this subject, and we can provide you with research excepts and workbooks as well as discussions on the Twelve Step program and other methods used to combat a sex addiction.
12. Will A Sex Addict Turn Down Sex And Intimacy With Their Partner?
In the latter stages of sexual addiction it is not uncommon for the addicted individual to refuse intimacy with their partner, and this stage is referred to as sexual anorexia. The individual would rather have the stimulation of the fantasy or an anonymous encounter than the actual act of sex with their relationship partner. Sex within the relationship is commonly avoided, with the result that sex becomes more and more infrequent. The non addicted partner feels hurt and betrayed and does not want to engage in sexual relations, and the sexual addict simply seeks satisfaction and release outside of the relationship with a sexual encounter or fantasy.
13. If The Person With The Sex Addiction Refuses Help Should The Non Addicted Partner Go Anyway?
Frequently an individual who suffers from a sexual addiction will be in denial, and refuse any help or treatment in the belief that there is no problem. The partner of the addict should still seek help, because living with a sex addict can be devastating and therapy is needed whether the relationship with the addict continues or not. Over the years in the relationship many negative emotions are experienced, and you need help to deal with this emotional baggage so that the addiction does not destroy your life as well as the life of the addict. A telephone counseling session can be the first step to a brighter future, so that you understand you are not responsible for or the cause of the sexual addiction in your partner. A sex addiction typically starts long before any adult relationships are started, and this addiction is brought into the relationship or marriage and not caused by it. Anyone who became involved with the addict would have experienced the same thing. Our Partners newsletter can be very beneficial if you are in a relationship with a sex addict.
