Sexual addiction is one of the least talked about and probably the least understood of all addictions (getting new, accurate, empirical information is difficult) and difficult to diagnose.
Sexual addiction can be understood by comparing it to other types of addictions. Individuals addicted to alcohol or other drugs, for example, develop a relationship with their "chemical of choice" - a relationship that takes precedence over any and all other aspects of their lives. Addicts find they need drugs merely to feel normal.
In sexual addiction, a parallel situation exists. Sex provides the "high" and addicts become dependent on this sexual high to feel normal.
Sexual addiction follows the same progressive nature of other addictions. Sexual addicts struggle to control their behaviors, and experience despair over their constant failure to do so. Their loss of self-esteem grows, fueling the need to escape even further into their addictive behaviors. A sense of powerlessness pervades the lives of addicts.
Sexual addiction is an intimacy disorder that began with traumatic experiences early in life.
Sexual addiction is rapidly becoming a major social problem and serious public health concern.
Sex addiction is similar to:
The essence of sexual 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. The unmanageability of addicts' lives can be seen in the consequences they suffer: losing relationships, difficulties with work, arrests, financial troubles, a loss of interest in things not sexual, low self-esteem and despair.
In the late 1970’s, Patrick Carnes, a psychologist and researcher, was the first who identified sexual addiction as a condition that needs to be treated.
Today more men and women are opening up and coming to terms with their compulsive or addictive sexual behaviors, which includes compulsive masturbation (in a similar process as in the past with alcoholism)
This website is referring to the sex addict as "he" - but both males and females are affected by this disease.
The course of this illness may be slow and is nearly always hidden from view.
It is usually a secret part of the man's life, and like a cancer, it keeps
growing and spreading. It rarely ever reverses itself, and it is also very
difficult to treat and heal. Denial on the part of the male addict and refusal
to confront the problem are typical and predictable, and this almost always
leads to marital or couple disharmony, sometimes divorce, and sometimes the
breaking up of other intimate relationships.
Sexual addiction is an obsessive preoccupation and compulsive acting-out that spirals out of control.
The brain confused the rush of adrenaline and endorphins with love and intimacy.
Some people can look at pornography recreationally, without becoming addicted, but a typical addict can spend anywhere from four to five hours a night and six nights a week looking at porn. "It’s kind of like eating," says Weiss. "Eating is a healthy thing, but eating a whole lot is not such a healthy thing, and it’s the same thing for a sex addict. They do what other people do, only they do way too much of it." (Rob Weiss).
Some individuals have a great deal of difficulty controlling their sexual behavior. They have frequent intrusive thoughts about sex and repeatedly engage in sexual behavior that can become out of control. This can result in numerous problems (e.g. sexually transmitted diseases, exposure to HIV, unwanted pregnancies, legal consequences, problems in maintaining a relationship or a marriage, domestic violence, etc.).
For some individuals, the object of their sexual gratification is conventional and for others it is unconventional. The former type of behavior has been called by several names, compulsive sexual behavior, hyperphilia, hyperactive sexual desire disorder, paraphilia-related disorder sexual addiction, and sexual impulsivity.