Human Sexuality & Education: Sexual Addiction

Human Sexuality: Sexual Addiction Name of Student Institutional Affiliation Date of Submission Sexual Addiction The best way to explain Sexual addiction is that it is a progressive intimacy disorder that’s mainly characterized by strong compulsive sexual thoughts as well as acting upon them. Having an addiction has a negative impact on ourselves as well as those around us and without acting on the urge, an individual in unable to carry out their daily lives normally. Sexual addiction is mainly engaging in unacceptable sexual behaviors over and over, it can either be good or bad depending on how strong their addiction is. As the addiction increases, the individual usually has to find ways of releasing the compulsion by performing actions which can either be bad or good, depending on what the addiction is. Nymphomania and satyriasis are the terms used to describe a female and a male with hypersexual disorder and obsessive sexual thought respectively CITATION Chr172 \l 1033 (Nordqvist, 2017). The hypersexual lifestyle becomes a cycle and just like most addiction cycles, it starts with an emotional trigger such as stress or anxiety which leads to a craving of a given sexual behavior such as use of porn then the patient engages in activities set to create a conducive environment for the act consequently, the behavior is acted upon which causes guilt and shame. If a patient does not stop the habit, the vicious cycle continues CITATION Sam18 \l 1033 (Pascoe, 2018). People who are stuck in this cycle continue in the addictive behaviors even when the negative effects are well known to them. For example, people seek porn and prostitutes even when they are very much aware that this will drain their pockets and strong relationships CITATION Mat13 \l 1033 (McMillen, 2013). There lie several terms to this disorder such as hyper sexuality, sexual compulsivity and sexual dependencies CITATION Chr172 \l 1033 (Nordqvist, 2017) which have led to the question as to whether this is a real addiction or an excuse for sexual misconduct CITATION Jil13 \l 1033 (Keenan, 2013). Another aspect raising the same question is the fact that these patients are addicted to varied sexual behaviors such as affairs, masturbation, continued use of porn and voyeurism just to mention a few thus making it harder to define this as a sex addiction. Additionally, sex addiction differs from other types of addiction since in the former, a patient is addicted upon an activity while in the latter, patients are addicted to substances CITATION Chr172 \l 1033 (Nordqvist, 2017). There are many myths and facts surrounding this topic such as the belief that the addiction is only a male problem, yet about 12 percent of women deals with the same problem. Additionally, there has been a bone of contention as to whether this issue is an addiction or not CITATION Chr172 \l 1033 (Nordqvist, 2017). Sexual addiction is a type of intimacy disorder that millions of individuals struggle with each day of their lives. Nearly 12 million Americans struggle with sex addiction in the U.S, according to the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Sex addiction has many consequences, including financial, health, social and emotional constraints. All of these have a big toll on the individual who is dealing with an addiction and those around them. The obsessive thoughts of a hypersexualized individual robs them the ability to work properly and go about their daily routines in a fulfilling manner since this causes a distraction and the urge to act upon the addictive behavior becomes overwhelming. A sex addict may engage in unacceptable sexual behaviors such as paraphilic disorders, breaking boundaries on what is acceptable and what is not and engaging in sexual behavior longer than normal or expected and all these can cause strains in relationships. Addicts may find themselves on the wrong side of the law, since some behaviors such as paraphilic behaviors, exhibitionism and public exposure are illegal CITATION Chr172 \l 1033 (Nordqvist, 2017). Such patients will also spend a lot of money in order to satisfy the addiction cycle, for example in seeking prostitutes causing financial constraints to the individual or the family. This subsequently affects relationships negatively and an addict can go extra miles to access the needed material which of course will cause more damage. Additionally, due to lack of considerations in seeking to satisfy the sexual urges, the patient can have multiple sex partners and this can lead to STIs which in itself has its own negative effects to an individual finances and relationships. In as much as sex addiction fails to meet the conventional description of the term addiction, one thing is common in all damaging repetitive habits, patients need treatment or otherwise it gets worse CITATION Chr172 \l 1033 (Nordqvist, 2017). There are plenty of ways to get help and treatment focuses on four main areas, namely; separated from the addictive behavior, managing and reducing the urges, identification of the underlying problem and the triggers and lastly to address the distressing emotions surrounding the addic...