One in 20 people is addicted to sex, according to Dr. Prakash Kothari, 71, sexologist and founding head of the Department of Sexual Medicine at the K.E.M Hospital, Mumbai. "When the desire is uncontrollable, the need is unquenchable, and behavior is compulsive, it's sex addiction." - Kothari says
Sexual activities such as masturbation, sex, and pornography are something that people from all walks of life tend to enjoy as such activities can help maintain your estrogen and testosterone levels in balance. It can promote relaxation, improve sexual health, improve sleep, improve concentration, release tension, and elevate mood. Although sex, masturbation, and watching porn are not harmful, they can be addictive, affecting your wellbeing. "Everyone engages in addictive behaviors to some extent because such things as eating, drinking, and sex are essential to survival and highly reinforcing," says G. Alan Marlatt, Ph.D., director of the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington. "We get immediate gratification from them and find them very hard to give up, indeed. That's a pretty good definition of addiction". Sexual addition is not only a physical act of having sex or watching porn or masturbating rather it is more of being mentally and emotionally obsessed with it. This phenomenon of progressively being addicted to sexual activity, having obsessive sexual thoughts or fantasies, and urges, is called hypersexuality, or sexual addiction, now called Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder according to ICD-11 (International classification of diseases and related health problems). And it can be distressing to the point that it affects your life and wellbeing.
Symptoms/indicators of sexual addiction
People having sexual addiction would not be able to determine whether to stop or continue with the sexual activity.
They may begin to retreat from their family, friends, relations, career, work, and profession to engage in sexual activities to satisfy their urges and desires. They would excessively indulge in sexual activities despite the severe consequences they may have.
They would find themselves preoccupied with sexual thoughts throughout the day, fantasizing or fetishizing to engage in sexual activities. Due to this, they might ignore the other aspects of their life as it takes up all their time and energy.
They would find themselves engaging in sexual activities in public or in places where they would rather not (e.g., a public restroom).
They would find themselves practicing unsafe sex, cybersex, meeting sex workers, persistently using pornography to find satisfaction.
They would engage in sexual activities to cope up with negative emotions. But, they would find themselves feeling guilty or upset during or after engaging in sexual activities.
Reasons for sexual addiction
Some of reasons can be:
Imbalance in natural brain chemicals
Certain chemicals in your brain (neurotransmitters) such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine help regulate your mood. High levels may be related to compulsive sexual behavior.
Changes in brain pathways
Compulsive sexual behavior may be an addiction that, over time, might cause changes in the brain neural paths, especially in the support center of the brain. Sexual addiction, like other addictions, tries to gain satisfaction.
Conditions affecting the brain
Certain diseases or health problems, such as epilepsy and dementia, may cause damage to parts of the brain that affect sexual behavior. In addition, the treatment of Parkinson's' disease with some dopamine agonist medications may cause compulsive sexual behavior.
Psychological causes
Underlying depression, anxiety disorder, stress, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse disorder, another type of addiction, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Social causes
Severe relationship distress, sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and intimate partner violence.
Substance abuse
Substance abuse or drug addiction can be an underlying cause of compulsive sexual behavior, as drug addicts seek satisfaction, which they get by engaging in sexual activities.
Impact of sexual addiction
A person who engages in sexual activity too regularly or compulsively may feel:
People who engage in compulsive sexual behavior may indulge in sexual behavior to cope with their lower self-satisfaction, lower self-esteem, and negative feelings.
It can also decrease your work performance and productivity.
Psychological problems: you might develop other mental health conditions than sexual addictions, like depression, severe anxiety and stress, and suicidal ideations.
Treatment
If a person engages in compulsive sexual behaviors that cause distress, specific treatments are available:
Self-help groups
Self-help groups are free of charge, and joining these groups provides you fellowship, support, structure, and accountability. They give you a confidential environment made of people who have had similar experiences, and there is no fear of judgment or labeling. Here group therapy is widely used for people who do not seek treatment. Group therapy helps people open up their suppressed thoughts and feelings, enhance personal growth, and forge meaningful relations.
Inpatient and intensive outpatient treatment
Focuses on identify core triggers and beliefs about sexual addiction and whether it is coexisting with some other psychological disorder. It also helps in choosing healthier choices and coping strategies to reduce urges and deal with the preoccupation of sexual thoughts, fantasizing, or fetishizing to engage in sexual activities.
Rebuilding relationships
It includes family therapy and couple therapy. These therapies restore trust, minimize shame or guilt, and establish a healthy sexual relationship between partners. Here the therapist would try to get an inside look within the family. This therapy aims to assess and decrease the compulsive sexual behavior of the individual in the family and analyze and construct a positive and rational environment.
Individual Therapy
1. Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)
Also known as cognitive restructuring, focuses on identifying triggers to sexual behaviors and reshaping cognitive distortions about sexual behaviors, e.g., I'm not cheating on my spouse if I go to a massage parlor, by replacing them with more realistic, rational, and positive thoughts. CBT includes various sessions with the therapist and is used by the therapist when sexual behavior becomes compulsive and is intrusive with your personal and professional life.
2. Psychodynamic psychotherapy
It focuses on unraveling the psychological factors associated with compulsive sexual behavior, that is, whether this behavior is an underlying condition to a more severe problem or not, e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, and so on. This form of therapy tries to make people understanding themselves and others and teaches coping skills to enhance adjustment.
Coping
Some of the coping strategies which you can employ are:
Physical activities can help to divert your attention from sexual thoughts to something productive and fulfilling. These activities can be something you enjoy, for example, Yoga, Swimming, Dancing, Meditation, Running, and so on.
Journaling can help to identify and express your feelings.
Crafting and arts act as a distraction that helps express your feeling and make you relaxed.
References
Comments