“Am I a Sex Addict?” What Sex Therapists Have to Say
When it comes to having an addiction to sex, we asked Dr. Kate Balestrieri if there were any signs to tell when our relationship with sex is becoming a damaging one. Here are a few behaviors that could indicate a problem:
“Am I a Sex Addict?”
Is your relationship with sexuality causing any negative consequences in your life? Are you having a difficult time course-correcting those negative consequences?
Those negative consequences can look like:
Self-inflicting a physical injury from compulsive solo sex
Passing an STI to a partner as a consequence of engaging in sex outside with relationship
Putting your jobs at risk for having inappropriate content on a work computer
“Sex addiction is not about sex or orgasm. It is about the search for sex and the desire for orgasm.
It’s a process addiction.”
Addictions, specifically process addictions, are not defined by the number of times a person engages in a certain behavior, nor are they defined by the specific type of behavior.
What makes an addiction an addiction is the reason why people keep engaging in said behavior despite the impact that it has on their everyday life. The impact is often negative and destructive and the reasons can be traced to a wide array of emotional issues.
Drawing a line to try and establish how much sex is too much sex is tricky and almost impossible since every person has their own views both about what classifies as sex and about the number of encounters they consider excessive.
It’s too much when YOU feel it’s too much, and it could be an addiction or compulsion if it starts to keep you from delivering in your everyday life.
How to Know it Has Crossed into the Realm of Addiction?
“Sex addiction is not defined by the amount or type of sexual activity involved, but by the particular relationship the person has to compulsive sexual experiences,” says Dorothy Haden, LCSW. What makes an addiction an addiction is the reason why people keep engaging in said behavior despite the impact that it has on their everyday-lives. The impact is often negative and destructive and the reasons can be traced to a wide array of emotional issues.
“Am I a Sex Addict?” What Sex Therapists Have to Say was originally published on My Sex Bio’s blog on Jun 26th, 2024
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