Today, as the trauma-based neurobiological problem of sexual addiction becomes more universally understood and accepted, sexual offenders who’ve been arrested for illegal sexual activity sometimes grasp at the “sex addiction” label, hoping to use it as an excuse for their behavior. One of the most egregious examples of this was Ariel Castro, the Ohio man …
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Joe, a 32-year-old gay man, abuses meth while he compulsively looks for and engages in anonymous sex in bathhouses and other sex-focused venues – often for days on end without even pausing to sleep. Recently he was fired from his job for repeatedly failing to show up. Marie, a 20-year-old college student, has gotten involved …
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Recognizing the Pain For spouses and partners of sex addicts, it’s not the extramarital sex itself that causes the most pain. Instead, it’s the betrayal of relationship trust – the lying, the secrets, and the ongoing deceit. For a healthy, emotionally attached primary partner this experience of profound and usually unexpected betrayal can be incredibly …
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With cross-addiction, addicts switch from one problematic substance/behavior to another. If they can’t use one substance/activity to escape and dissociate from life, they’ll use another. For instance, Marie is an active alcoholic who occasionally feels bad about her drinking and sobers up. But any time she stops drinking, she binge eats, numbing out with food …
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Pornography addiction is one of the most common forms of sexual addiction. It is not unusual for porn abuse to be coupled with compulsive masturbation and/or various forms of non-intimate partner sex such as webcam sex, sexting, anonymous sex, casual sex, affairs, use of prostitutes, exhibitionism, voyeurism, etc. That said, porn addiction is often a …
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Like drug addiction, sex addiction takes many forms. Among the most common, and among the most isolating and shameful, is compulsive masturbation. This is true for both male and female sex addicts. Of course, masturbation itself is not an unhealthy act. In fact, for most individuals it is a healthy part of sexuality. For sex …
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Addicts of all types have been adversely affected by the tech-connect boom and the endless array of stimulation it provides. As online accessibility, affordability, and anonymity have increased, so too has the number of people falling prey to Internet-related addictive behaviors – compulsive porn abuse, compulsive sexual hookups, compulsive gambling, compulsive shopping, compulsive video gaming, …
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You like to think that you’re immune to the stuff, but it’s closer to the truth to say you can’t get enough. You’re gonna have to face it, you’re addicted to love. —Addicted To Love song lyrics by Robert Allan Palmer, © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. The “Rush” of Romance For people seeking a healthy long-term …
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In a previous blog I examined the ways in which sexual sobriety is typically defined, noting that total abstinence, the most common conception of sobriety with alcoholism and drug addiction, does not work for many of the process (behavioral) addictions, including sex addiction and eating disorders. (For instance, if a sex addict is married, his …
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