Sex Addiction
Sex addiction is a disease that presents itself as compulsive sexual behavior that continues despite negative consequences to connection to-oneself, relationships, work, and finances. Much like substance abuse, compulsive behaviors (and the rituals around them) eventually begin to diminish a person's ability to tolerate emotional and life stress. Often, people isolate themselves in shame and despair; compartmentalizing these emotions by attempting to live a double-life. Eventually (like substance abuse), the person needs to engage in the behaviors more and more frequently and/or find new more intense behaviors to achieve the same effect. The following are examples of some common behaviors seen in sex addiction. It is important to remember that just because someone engages in these particular behaviors, does not mean that they have an addiction :
- Compulsive use of sexual fantasy
- Compulsive masturbation
- Seeing prostitutes
- Affairs
- Anonymous sex
- Online sexual behavior (chat-rooms, sexting, personal ads, webcam sex)
- Exhibitionism and voyeurism
- Excessive objectification (body-parting)
Pornography Addiction
Pornography addiction is not always an issue directly connected to "classic" sex addiction. Pornography addiction can manifest as a consequence of exposure (viewing at an early age and in high proportions), which research is beginning to show biologically alters the neural pathways of the brain (much like substance abuse); this often leads to difficulty with sexual arousal outside of pornography use and, in some cases, even erectile dysfunction. The inherent isolation in compulsive pornography use fuels shame, keeps one from engaging in human relationships, and ultimately from being able to break out of the cycle of addiction.
Treatment
Treatment for sex and pornography addiction begins with a comprehensive assessment of behavioral patterns, followed by construction of a plan to increase skills that help restore congruency between the person's behavior and his/her chosen values. Some of the skills include: identifying triggers and emotional states, systems of accountability, and implementing replacement behaviors. A history of traumatic experiences and/or co-occurring mental health issues often serve as drivers for compulsive sexual behavior. These need to be treated as separate, but contributing components that affect the overall success of treatment.