If you suffer from sex addiction, you have an ever-growing need for sexual activities. Most of the time, you do not find satisfaction in this. Thanks to the internet and the huge availability of porn, you are not the only one suffering from this.
What is sex addiction?
Someone with a sex addiction has an unhealthy or excessive craving for sex or porn. This compulsive need cannot really be satisfied. Sex addiction affects daily functioning. Addiction causes problems in dealing with partners and families. When no one knows about it, it can lead to a double life. Shame about a sex addiction can lead to gloom, anxiety, and depressive feelings.
How do I know if I am addicted to sex?
Sex addiction can manifest itself in different ways. Do you recognise yourself in the characteristics below? Then chances are you are addicted to sex.
- The craving for sex or porn keeps increasing and becomes more and more extreme.
- You want to stop, but you can’t.
- You suffer from mood swings.
- The craving for sex or porn affects your daily functioning. You neglect yourself, your relationships and your work.
Reality or illusion?
Sex addiction is similar to other forms of addiction (e.g. alcohol or drugs) in that the person has developed a pathological relationship with the mood-altering substance or behaviour. The relationship ends up being essentially more important than the relationship with family, partner, friends and work. An addict’s relationship to the behaviour (sex/attention) develops into a pattern in which the drug is necessary to feel and function normally. And that ‘normal’ feeling also implies isolation and loneliness, since the primary relationship one leans on is with a substance or behaviours, not with other people. Specifically in the case of sex addiction, he (and increasingly she) substitutes a sick relationship with an event or process for a healthy relationship with others. And in doing so, against his will, he endangers everything he holds dear, including partner, children, employer, friendships and his own health. His secret life becomes more realistic to him than his public life, what others know about him is a false identity. Only the individual addict knows the shame of living a double life, reality versus the addict’s life, a distortion of reality. Part of that distorted reality is, for example, watching porn and not being able to get an erection with your life partner. Or being in love with an unrealistically created image of a virtual friend to forget the stress around work and family. Or the ‘love’ you receive from a webcam lady you are happy to pay grossly for. Or losing yourself endlessly in clubs, saunas and cinemas but not daring to tell anyone about these ‘friendships’. Until you realise that your lust becomes a burden.
Medications
Despite not using drugs to lower libido, there is medical treatment for sex addiction. Although there are such drugs, the goal of our top-notch sex addiction therapy is to help clients achieve healthy sexual desire rather than to medically eliminate all desire.
However, if a patient has a dual diagnosis, alternative drugs might be recommended. Sex addiction frequently develops as a side effect of other issues, such as attempts to overcome depression or as a reaction to a prior traumatic event. But treatments for these might also help with sexual addiction. For instance, antidepressants may eliminate the desire for the dopamine rush associated with sexual engagement.
Recovery from sex addiction
Recovery is a rewarding but confronting, a painful but liberating process. This addiction is experienced by many as an existential or spiritual dilemma, whose solution therefore also lies within that spectrum. Of course, cognitive behavioural therapy forms part of the treatment, but it should also look beyond cause and effect, thoughts and behaviour. It is a journey you take. From isolation to connection. From obsession to liberation. From shame to authenticity. From emptiness to meaning. From fear to hope. From head to heart. From intensity to intimacy.
Treatment at rehab center in Marbella
Villa Paradiso Spain offers effective addiction treatment in a very private and discreet setting. At the heart of what we offer is understanding – an understanding of your needs, problems and how to help you overcome addiction, whether that be from drugs, alcohol or any other type of addiction. Each and every person is different. We are able to help you because we adapt all our expertise to your personal situation – with the pure and simple aim of achieving effective results.
A central element of our addiction treatment is absolute privacy and discretion, which is why Villa Paradiso Spain in Marbella is preferred by people who seek anonymity and a place in which to be at ease and focus on taking back control of their lives. We offer this without compromise within a beautiful, relaxed and sunny environment.
