Has sexual behavior taken over your life?

Do you spend more time with porn than you intended, or feel anxious when someone uses your phone or computer, fearing they might discover your private activities? Are you juggling multiple romantic or sexual relationships or engaging in compulsive behaviors you can’t seem to stop, even if they’re harming your relationships or costing you dearly? Despite your best efforts—or even after getting caught—do you find yourself returning to these behaviors time and again? If so, you may be struggling with compulsive sexual behaviors, commonly referred to as sexual addiction.

Sexual addiction involves engaging in unwanted sexual behaviors that persist despite your efforts to change.

These behaviors can take many forms, including compulsive porn use, maintaining secret sexual relationships, frequent visits to strip clubs or massage parlors, paying for sex, or pursuing romantic connections outside your primary relationship. While the specifics may vary, the common thread is an inability to stop on your own. 

For sex addicts, sex becomes the central focus of their lives, often at great personal cost.

Much like an alcoholic’s dependence on the bottle, the sex addict’s primary relationship is with sex and romance. They turn to obsessive fantasies and behaviors—even to the point of physical harm—in an attempt to escape difficult and painful emotions. Acting out through sexual behaviors also has a physiological component. When feeling lonely, stressed, or depressed, addicts access key neural pathways in their brain through mood-altering behaviors, temporarily easing their discomfort.

However, this pattern of using sexual behavior as emotional self-soothing often leads to shame and deeper depression. Over time, the addiction numbs emotional awareness, creating a sense of isolation and a growing inability to control one’s actions. Left unchecked, this cycle can result in devastating consequences and hitting "rock bottom."