There seems to be an abnormally large amount of people who suffer from sexual addictions. You don’t hear about it blatantly in the news although even celebrities have recently made their sexual addition public in the hopes of recovery.
Someone is said to have a sexual addiction is when they are abnormally interested in or unable to control his/her sexual urges due to their high sex drive. They put themselves at risk by engaging in multiple partners and sometimes hiring prostitutes to engage in sex. It mostly occurs with men but can and does occur in women as well.
It’s difficult to understand why there are so many people who suffer from this addiction and what is even less understood is how they can be helped and what can be done.
It is said that a sexual addiction occurs as result of childhood trauma such as incest or abuse, engaging in sex at a very young age, or excessively masturbating at an early age. Over 82% of sex addicts admit to being sexually abused as a child.
The reality is that addiction, any addiction, creates havoc in families and relationships. Ultimately, the addiction is not only felt by the person suffering from it, but more than likely felt very acutely by their partner as well.
More often than not, the other partner is not aware that their loved one has this addiction. The sex addict keeps it secret and needs to keep it that way in order to keep the addiction going. Sex for them is not a form of intimacy but a quick euphoric rush as a form of escape from anxiety, depression or pressure and to temporarily feel a boost to their ego and self worth.
Unfortunately, they are never satiated and can go from one empty affair to another; prostitutes; and even exhibitionism and voyeurism to try to get satisfaction. Most often they go from one sexual encounter onto another always seeking another sexual encounter literally the minute they finish with the last one.
William Reich, was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst and author of The Function of the Orgasm wherein he spoke of how sexual addiction is created by the inability of the individual to experience a full deep body orgasm. Basically if the orgasm is in their head with thoughts of fantasy, then they are not experiencing a full body orgasm and they are not connected with their bodies, therefore unable to form a deep and intimate bond with their partner.
Obviously there is a lot of cheating, lying and infidelity is high so it is very difficult to create a healthy and loving relationship with someone who suffers from a sexual addiction. However, it is common for many addicts to attempt to have a normal life while battling their addiction in secret and keeping it from their spouse, family, friends and business acquaintances.
The single most important step in combating a sexual addiction is for the addict be to honest with themselves about it. It begins with the realization and acknowledgment that this problem exists and will not go away unless something is done. Then as they say, the healing can begin.
Sexual addiction is treated just like any other form of addiction and is just as serious as a drug or alcohol dependency. A 12-step recovery program is available for people with sexual addictions. Marital therapy and individual counseling or psychotherapy is also recommended and found to be very useful. In extreme cases, medication is used to help control an addict’s obsessive behavior.
R_U_Ckin_2
58 / Male
Comments: 5
Posted on November 23, 2008, 3:41 pm
Sex with a female partner is all butt a memory
